


Lost in Translation

by Gogoboots



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Mentorship, Secrets, learning a language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-05-29 19:04:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 28,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15079670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gogoboots/pseuds/Gogoboots
Summary: As the Octarians push forward and steal the Great Zapfish, Cap'n Cuttlefish's search for a new agent turns up a promising young inkling. Sure she doesn't speak the language very well, doesn't know anything about Inkopolis and the Splatfests, and doesn't talk about where she comes from, but her fighting spirit is unrivaled!She's also the only one who followed him to Octo Valley so it's not like he had a lot of options.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit Nov 7 2018: made some minor changes and fixed a few errors**

He’d been seen. 

He only got a brief glimpse of his future hero and agent but he already saw the promise in the young inkling girl. He saw long orange hair and a curious expression that only intensified as she walked closer to him. A gait that spoke of hidden strength, perfect for the trials ahead. 

Fleeing through the pipes, he could hear the girl giving chase. His old tentacles weren’t as fast as they used to be but that suited him well enough. His new agent was taking her sweet time. He could hear her bumping into every corner and edge along the way. 

A little clumsy, but he could work with that. 

-

“So… you gotta help me rescue the Great Zapfish!” Finished with his (very rushed) speech, he looked over at the girl to gauge her reaction.

She looked more than a little bewildered. “Ah… c-can you repeat?”. 

Oh. No wonder then.

She had an accent thicker than a kelp smoothie! Probably understood less than half of what he’d said in his hurry. 

He could still work with this though. Reaching under his hat he took out his trusty index of Octarians (with him at all times, of course) and gestured for the girl to come over.

He opened the book to a picture of an inkling about to splat an octotrooper. He pointed to the Octarian in the picture, “This is an Octarian,” he said, enunciating his words carefully, then moved his finger over to the inkling. “This is us, the inklings!”, glancing at her he saw her nodding slowly before she slowly pointed at the Octarian.

“This is Octarian?” 

“Yes! These baddies stole…” The captain quickly reached under his hat again to get the newspaper clipping about the missing zapfish, and brought the article to the girls face, “They stole the Great Zapfish!”

“They stole zapfish?” The girl was starting to look a little nervous. “They are bad?”

“Real bad girlie. But! We need to take the zapfish back before Inkopolis runs out of power. And I need yer help to do that!” He stepped back and reached into one of the boxes behind him. Picking up Callie’s old suit and hero shot, he turned back to her.

“I’ll give you some special gear to keep you safe from the Octarians, you don’t have to worry about going in unarmed. You understand?”

She slowly took the jacket and runners before looking up at him. “I understand. I help with Octarians, and we help zapfish?” she said as she started putting on the jacket over her basic tee.

“You got it girlie! Now put on that hero suit and get ready to go! We’ll go over the basics quickly before your first mission. It’s an easy one, even a beginner should be able to handle it no problem!", He handed her the hero headset, "Now follow me!”

As the girl finished putting on the runners and headset, he started walking toward the first kettle, currently hidden from sight. He pointed at the seemingly empty space with his cane. “Try shootin' yer weapon right here fer a surprise.”

He saw the girl hesitate, taking a deep breath and pointing the hero shot, before yelping in shock as the ink she shot landed on what appeared to be thin air.

The captain nodded and opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted as the girl grinned, and began rapidly firing at the kettle. Good initiative then.

The captain pulled the map he'd prepared earlier out of his boot and turned to her again. Holding the map between the two of them he started to explain. “I need you to find the zapfish right… here” he pointed to the little zapfish symbol he’d drawn there. “You’ll have ta superjump to each platform to get to the zapfish though”.

The girl nodded with wide eyes and said “Yes! I will find it!”.

“Hold your seahorses there, I still need to tell you where the Octarians are hidin’,” The captain pointed to the octo symbols scattered on the platforms, “Watch out fer these. Try to hide if you can, an' if you can’t, then use that hero shot of yers to splat ‘em”.

She seemed eager to rush ahead, “I go now?”

“One last thing,” He tapped at his head, where the girl was wearing the headset. “I’ll be speakin’ to you through the hero headset, I need to know that you understand me well enough for me to guide you.”

The girl paused before grinning and spoke her unsteady words in her strange accent, “Ah… I understand many things, but I do not talk very good. Talk slow and I will understand”.

_Good enough_ , the captain thought, _we’ll get to the rest later_.

“Then go and kick some octo butt!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only know one other language and it's conversational level french. I'm basing Agent 3's own learning off of mine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edited Nov 7 2018: minor fixes and a few extra details**

This girl was good. 

The captain watched through the headset on his portable monitor as the girl shot, fought, and flipped her way through the platforms. She had incredible accuracy with that shooter! Mostly because of how close she was willing to get to each enemy. But still!

“If you look ahead over there, you’ll see and Octarian with a shield. Swim slowly and get behind it to take it out!”

“Yes!”

A few seconds and blasts from the hero shot later and the octo was splatted back to where the slimey bugger came from. 

The girl cheered to herself in her language. She spent a lot of time pep talking herself (at least that’s what he thought she was doing). It was a rather strange language with consonants far harder than most inkling languages. She also bubbled her voice very little. He knew many languages but he’d never even heard one similar to this. He’d ask later. Probably. If he didn't forget

Ah, he could ponder that later. She was currently fighting a group of baddies.

“Remember to hide behind a wall if yer hurtin’!”

-

Several Octarians and one zapfish later, they were back at the base, standing by the kettle. 

The girl was hugging and cooing incomprehensibly at the zapfish, which seemed quite content to let itself be pampered after its ordeal.

“Nice work on yer first mission!” At his words the girl looked up at him.

She held the zapfish above her head, much to the tiny catfish's delight “I have the zapfish! What do I do now?” 

“Well, there’s two more kettles in this area to take 'fore we can get to the boss kettle. It’ll be good practice fer you ta take ‘em” He glanced back to the cabin behind him. “Once we make it past this sector we’ll have a bit a time to rest an’ gather our bearings.But we need to get at least a few zapfish back as quickly as possible.”

The girl nodded and handed him the zapfish. The captain decided to really take a good look at her for the first time.

Her ink was still green from her mission, and she looked slightly more ragged than when she first slipped through the grate. The tentacles on her head were almost as long as how Callie kept her hair, though it looked as if she hadn’t put as much effort into her style as Callie did. She was solidly built too; she looked like she could easily punch out a kelp-haired octoling. 

She started to turn down the path to where the next kettle but he spoke before she could start walking, “Before you go on yer next mission, I think it’s about time ta give you a proper title.” The girl looked surprised before grinning.

“Ok!”

“From now on, you will be known as Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon! As I mentioned before, I am Cap’n Cuttlefish, leader of this group.” The newly titled Agent 3 looked quite excited. “I’ll introduce you to Agents 1 and 2 sometime later. Fer now, off to the next kettle with you!”

Agent 3 was still grinning. She stood up straight and saluted him, saying “Yes!” before she turned and ran down the path to look for the next kettle.

“Ah… I was gonna ask fer yer name but I guess we’ll get there later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to write an accent is harder than you'd think. 
> 
> Agent 3 has her title and we'll learn her name soon enough. 
> 
> I don't like reading things that I already know about so I'm gonna try to glaze over the details of the actual levels, and focus instead on the mentorship between Agent 3 and the good old Cap'n.


	3. Chapter 3

“My name is Etta.”

“Well Etta, I gotta say, You’ve done some splatastic work! At this rate we’ll have all the zapfish back faster than a speedin’ seahorse!” He patted the top of her head as she grinned at him.

“Yes! It is good!”

“Though we might need ta work on yer swim speed; you had a bit a trouble getting past those squee-G’s”, At this Agent 3 looked a little embarrassed, and gave a small laugh.

“Yes, I am not fast like that, but I am fast when I am like this” She said before jogging in a quick circle.

The captain laughed at that before replying, “I’ll say. You run about as fast as you can swim!”

They both had a good laugh at that before the captain started to turn around.

“I think that’s about enough for one day. How’s about we return to the cabin to take a breather and rest up?” He started to walk back along the path.

Agent 3 started a slow jog to catch up with him. “We will rest now?” She questioned.

“I’ll bet yer gettin’ hungry somethin’ fierce! I figured I’d make you somethin’ good to eat!”

“Ah! Yes! I want food please!”

-

They arrived at cuttlefish cabin and Cap'n got Etta seated at the table of the crowded kitchen while he set about making some of his famous crabby cakes. Yum!

Agent 3 looked like she was hungrier than she had initially let on. The girl was practically bouncing in her seat!

“Well Etta, I gotta ask, how’d a squid as young as you end up in Inkopolis alone? You sure you didn’t come here with anyone?” He probably should’ve asked this before, but he’d been in a bit of a rush. He didn’t want the girl’s parents and friends to be worried about her. He couldn’t just squidnap a kid and make her an agent if her parents were looking for her, no matter how eager she was. And no matter how badly he needed an agent

Etta briefly stopped her bouncing to look at him and reply, “I did not know where else to go to. I have been here for a little time. I have learned some language also.”

“So no one’s lookin’ fer you?”

“There is no one who is looking for me.”

The captain turned to the stove and sighed quietly. It wasn’t usually good when squids this young were entirely alone. Though she didn’t seem very nervous about being alone, and it didn’t look like she was lying about no one looking for her.

He wanted to ask about how she got to Inkopolis but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. While she didn’t seem upset about her situation, he didn’t want to pry so soon after meeting her. 

The captain turned to face Etta and spoke, “Well you can stay at the cabin if you want. You’ll be here a fair bit so you may as well make yerself comfortable.”

Etta stopped her bouncing again to give him a big grin, “Yes! I like that!”

-

After the dinner that Etta scarfed down, the sun was starting to set. The captain set about quickly making up the small guest room. It only had a small bed, a closet, and an old couch that Callie had insisted be put there, but it would work as a place to sleep.

When he came back to the kitchen to retrieve Etta, he found her sitting on her chair reading a rather thick looking book.

Her face was scrunched up, and she was slowly mouthing the words she was reading. She was so engrossed in her book, that she jump slightly when the captain tapped her shoulder before looking up with startled eyes.

The captain chuckled, “At ease agent. Just wonderin’ what yer readin’”

Etta laughed slightly and moved to show him the cover. He nearly laughed when he saw it.

A dictionary!

Something to Inkling Dictionary. 

He didn’t recognize the letters of the first word, so he guessed that it was the name of her language.

He pointed to the word and asked her how to pronounce it. Etta smiled and said a completely foreign word that he tried (failed) to imitate. 

He could only properly say the last bit of the word and even the it came out sounding like _gisshh_. Etta had a good laugh at that.

She was interrupted by a yawn that quickly caught onto the captain.

“Well I think that’s as good a sign as any that it’s time for my bedtime. I’d say it’s the same fer you.” He stretched his arms into the air, and started to walk toward the bedrooms, gesturing for Etta to follow. “Here’s where you’ll be stayin’ fer now. You can pretty it up later if you want.”

Etta nodded and turned to him, “Yes. Thank you C-Cap’n”, stumbling over his name for a moment she started for the room.

“Get some good rest agent. Tomorrow we’ll try for the boss kettle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not actually very good with language things. I do however, know lots about science. 
> 
> Shout out to random name generator for helping me come up with a name. 
> 
> Leave a comment over here if you like my fic so far. Or head over to my [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com) if you wanna talk!


	4. Chapter 4

“Agent 3! To the right! No, left! Run back!”

Running faster than a sailfish, Agent 3 dodged the Octostomp’s latest attack. 

How could the Great Octoweapons be here? Had the octarians found a way to power them with zapfish instead of cords? 

It certainly seemed so. As Agent 3 dashed right to avoid another stomp, there was still no sign of any cord on the giant. 

Octostamps were hard enough to deal with on their own. An octostamp DX was practically invincible, if somewhat slow. The Mighty Octostomp was a category above them both, bigger than an octostamp DX, faster than an octostamp, and smarter than both.

In other words, it wasn’t looking good for Agent 3. 

The poor girl was being run in circles around the battle ring. All around the platform were bleachers packed to the brim with octarians cheering for her defeat. The ground was covered in enemy ink and she was struggling just to find ground she could walk on. All the while, he could hear Octavio’s beats playing at a volume that must be deafening in person.

The captain shouted through the communicator, “Agent 3! An octostomp’s weakness is on its back! See if you can get on top o’ the beast!” 

Her reply was slightly distorted by the music, but no less loud.

“ _HOW!?_ ”

“Ink the sides and swim up!” 

Even he knew that was easier said than done.

Agent 3 was trying to cover the sides of the Octostomp, but it was so fast, and she still had to clear out the magenta ink the beast was leaving everywhere, lest she be cornered.

Even when she managed to start swimming up the side, she was too slow. The weapon would shake both her and her green ink off, sending her back to square one. 

And the music was still blaring, to the delight of the crowd.

This was getting too dangerous. “Agent 3. You should retreat and come back to base. If you can’t get a tentacle up on this thing soon, you’ll be sashimi fer sure!”

Through the video feed he could see that she didn’t pause. “Cap’n! I can win! I know what to do!”

“Then what’s yer plan?” She sprayed ink at the side of the Octostomp and retreated slightly.

“I do not have words for it! But it is good!”, at her words the captain spared a small thought.

_For her sake it better._

She was leading it to one edge of the arena, shooting her colour everywhere she could. The Octostomp was close behind, once again dashing over to try and splat her.

As it came down with a _thump_ Agent 3 dove into the green ink that was scattered around the ring. And stayed there.

Octostomp stood up to try again to splat the inkling.

Only to look slightly bewildered at the lack of opponent. Even the crowd had quieted down slightly as they searched for the inkling.

The captain watched through the video feed on the hero headset as Agent 3 slowly moved through her ink toward the other side of the arena.

_Of course!_

The Octostomp could only attack what it could see! And as slow as Agent 3 swam, she was virtually invisible. 

But she couldn’t defeat an Octoweapon by swimming away. So what was her plan?

As Agent 3 arrived at the other side of the ring she popped out of the ink and called out.

“ _‘EY OCTASTOMP!_ ”

Well, she didn’t quite pronounce it right, but her yell still caught the attention of the Octostomp and the crowd.

As the Octostomp reared up for another charge, Agent 3 braced herself. She wasn’t gonna face it head on, was she?

The Octoweapon began its charge, slightly slowed by the green ink still in its way, but still far to fast for an inkling to withstand a hit from.

The cheering of the crowd got louder the closer it came to the agent but she still didn’t move.

“Agent 3! Yer plan had better turn the tables fast, or you’ll be flatter than a flounder!”

He only barely got the words out before Agent 3 made her move.

Using the Octostomp’s size and momentum against it, she slipped to the right of it with a quick roll and aimed her hero shot at its legs.

Almost in slow motion, the giant stumbled, tripped, and landed face first on the ground. The crowd gasped in shock as everything but Agent 3 seemed to freeze.

Running over to the side that she’d already inked, she used the stunned state of the Octoweapon to give her enough time to swim up it side.

To find a giant tentacle.

“Agent 3! Ink that slimey schmuck up! That’s the weak point!” He yelled into the communicator.

Then Agent 3 made another unexpected move.

She took the tank off of her ink pack (a bad idea), flipped the top off it (a VERY bad idea), and turned the entire contents of the cylinder into the space between the tentacle and the edge of the hole it was in (???), before launching herself as far away as she could.

The crowd was filled with screams even as the music still played. The Great Octostomp paused for a moment before trying to get up.

Suddenly it started shaking. The metal panels on its side made clanging noises as it shook.

The crowd was starting to flee and the Octostomp shook more. Now green ink was visible through the seams of the metal plates.

Both the Octostomp and the music stopped at the same time before, with a sound like screeching metal, the giant exploded in green ink.

“ _YES!_ ”

“Well butter my biscuits! It worked! Not the most conventional approach, certainly, but it worked!”, he watched for a moment as Agent 3 spun around in a short victory dance before she started walking to the zapfish.

Agent 3 jump in the air and exclaimed, “It is very good!”

Chuckling, the captain replied, “Go get the zapfish and return back to base Agent 3. You deserve a good rest after that battle”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would be neat to have to attack the Octopstomp's little legs to trip it. In this, the Octostomp gets up too fast for Etta, slow swimmer that she is, so she tripped it to keep it down long enough for her to climb it. I was inspired by the octoballers, and how they get really stuck in enemy ink, more so than any other octarian.
> 
> Also I though it'd be funny if Etta just dumped an entire tank of ink into that thing and destroyed it with one hit. She's not gonna do that to all of 'em, so don't worry.
> 
> I also put in a crowd like in the final boss. I think the octarians would want to see the legendary Octoweapons in battle, don't you? Also just pretend that the song [Octoweaponry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqKZ6lDsLcI) is written by Octavio instead of Turquoise October.
> 
> Once again, leave me a comment if you liked this chapter, or come talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!


	5. Chapter 5

“ _Grandpa!_ ”, Callie Cuttlefish’s slightly distorted scream came over the communicator, “ _You can’t just make a random inkling into an agent!_ ”

After defeating the Octostomp, Etta had returned to the cabin and promptly passed out (without cleaning the octo ink off herself, she was gonna stink in the morning.). The captain decided to take this chance to call his granddaughters in order to update them on the zapfish situation.

“ _She’s not even fluent in the language, grandpa!_ ”, now Marie was (shouting) speaking. “ _There has to be someone better for this job!_ ”

“Now, now girls, I think you’ll find that Etta is more than qualified to become Agent 3”, the captain chuckled, “Why, she’s already defeated an Octoweapon! Blasted the slimey barnacle into oblivion!”

“ _Oh man… this is a mess._ ” Callie lamented, “ _Marie, you’re better at explaining these things than me. Tell grandpa why this won’t end well!_ ”

“We needed a new agent fast! You take any port in a storm. Who knows, maybe someday one a you two might have to make do with the first fish you can find.”

Marie sighed, “ _Urghhhh… grandpa, Callie and I can help! You didn’t have to pull someone else into this! It’s dangerous!_ ”

Callie continued, “ _Maybe we should cancel our next show and help search for zapfish? We don’t want you to have to do everything yourself!_ ”

How lucky he was to have such wonderful and kind granddaughters.

But.

“No. The public can’t have the beloved Squid Sisters on hiatus with the zapfish going missin’. Besides, we need an agent who’s not in the public eye. I’ll even be personally trainin’ her to be the best she can be!”

Marie sighed again through the communicator, “ _Fine… But! We’ll be there the second you have any trouble._ ”

“ _Now Marie and I gotta get ready to do the news. Send the zapfish over to Sheldon so he can start putting them back in place._ ” 

“Once you get some free time you should come meet Etta! I’m sure you’ll like her!” 

“ _Sure thing grandpa. We’ll talk to you later_ ”, There was some shuffling through the microphone before Callie’s faint voice was heard saying, “ _Marie let’s go_ ”, before the comm shut off.

That had gone better than expected.

The captain placed his communicator onto a table before turning to the kitchen. Etta would be hungry when she woke up after all!

-

Etta slept through the night and most of the morning. The captain decided not to disturb her, letting her wake up whenever she was ready. 

When she finally woke, it was almost noon. She stumbled into the small kitchen and plopped down on a chair, looking around blearily. 

She also smelled really bad. 

The captain went to the small fridge and took out some of the schwaffles left over from last night. He put the plate and cutlery on the table so he could get ready to reheat them, but faster than he could blink, Etta reached over and started to devour the cold food at an almost alarming rate. 

After a few moments, Etta slowly stopped as she noticed the captain staring. She sheepishly ate one more bite and put the fork down, looking apologetic.

“Ahaha… sorry…”

“Aye, it’s alright girlie. After a fight like that anyone would be hungry”

Etta started eating again, albeit more slowly, and and replied, “Thank you Cap’n”

She still finished quickly, and once she was done, the captain spoke, “I don’t have any missions fer you today, but I do have somethin’ I want you to do.”

Etta looked up at him, “Yes?”

“I have to get the zapfish you rescued back where they belong, so I want you to go out and have some fun fer the day! Play some turf war! Come back fer dinner and I’ll have somethin’ fer you.”

Etta smiled and laughed, then said, “Yes Cap’n, I like that!”

As she turned to leave, the captain coughed slightly, and said, “Though, maybe before you go, you should clean up a bit”, at Etta curious look he stated, “You stink of octo slime”

“Yes Cap!”

-

After Etta cleaned off and rushed back to Inkopolis to have fun, That captain gathered the recovered zapfish and called Sheldon.

Two rings later and Sheldon’s excited voice came through the phone.

“ _Captain Cuttlefish! Hello! It’s really great to hear from you! Is there anything I can do for you?_ ”

“Settle down Sheldon, I’m just callin’ about the zapfish.”

Sheldon’s voice came again, slightly less excited, “ _Ah, ok, has anything new come up?_ ”

Chuckling, the captain replied, “Yes, actually. I managed to spot me a new agent. Found her adrift in Inkopolis. She’s hauled in four zapfish in just two days!”

“ _Woah! Really?_ ” Sheldon exclaimed, “ _That’s… that’s actually really impressive! And really good! With the Great Zapfish gone, and all the other zapfish going missing, even just one more will help! Tell me your coordinates and I’ll come get them as soon as possible!_ ”

“Aye, thank you Sheldon. I’m at the base by Octo Valley. Though if it’s not too much trouble, I have two more favours to ask of you.”

Sheldon quickly replied, “ _Nothing’s too much trouble Cap’n! Tell me and I’ll get right to it!_ ”

It was nice that Sheldon was still as eager as ever.

“Well first, I need yer help with findin’ where to look for zapfish next. Callie and Marie are too busy right now, and I’ll be busy with trainin’ the new agent.”

The line went quiet for a second before Sheldon’s voice came back, slightly higher pitched, “ _Cap’n? You want me to find where to go next? You think I can do it?_ ”

“Of course you can! Yer Sheldon of Ammo Knights! When it comes to technology, there’s nothing you can’t do! And we need all hands on deck to fight the octarians.”

“ _Thank you Cap’n! I won’t let you down!_ ”

What a great kid. The captain thought. He’ll end up just as great as Ammoses.

Instead of saying his thoughts however, he brought the conversation back on track, “The other favour is a little more simple than the first. When you come to get the zapfish, could you bring me a couple things?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I finally got this chapter done! Callie and Marie aren't super stoked about some random girl taking over for them, but the _are_ really busy...
> 
> Etta forgets to shower, then goes out to have some fun!
> 
> I feel like Sheldon would really look up to the old Cap'n, considering his grandpa and the Cap'n were war buddies, and he does come from a military family. We'll hear more from him later.
> 
> If you liked this chapter, leave me a comment! Or talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!


	6. Chapter 6

Sheldon came and went, taking the zapfish with him. The sun was just barely starting to set, so the captain set about getting ready for Etta to come back. 

He decided to prepare some crunchy kelp and coral salad with shredded anchovy. Yum!

When Etta came back, she was tired but smiling. As they ate, she excitedly talked about the matches she won, stumbling she words occasionally. 

“In the Towers, the Moray Towers, it was very high! And the other team was below me so I used, what is the word…? Ah! Splashdown!”

“From way up high?”

She laughed, “Very! I splatted two people! And took out one more after!”

The captain nodded, “It’s a good strategy, usin’ splashdown from high enough will send any foe sailin’.”

Eventually they both finished eating. After cleaning up the dishes, the captain spoke.

“I know yer tryin’ to learn a language, and you’ve been learnin’ from that dictionary”, Etta nodded, looking intrigued, “ An’ I figured that can’t be easy, just learnin’ from that. So I had a contact of mine go get some things fer you.”

He reached for the box that had been placed on the counter and brought it to the table for Etta to see. She looked very interested by this point.

He opened the box to reveal a stack of books. “These’re books and practice papers on the language. I’ve had to learn another language or two in my day, and these’ll be a real help.”

Etta picked up one of the books (a visual dictionary), and started to flip through it, before smiling and saying, “Thank you Cap.”

The captain smiled back and said, “That’s not all though. Since we have a few days before we can rescue more zapfish, I figured I’d help you train some. Help you get better at swimmin’, and teach you some more combat skills.”

Etta looked (somewhat) serious, and replied, “Yes.”

“The plan right now is I’ll be trainin’ you in somethin’ in the mornin’ so you can have some time after lunch fer yerself”, seeing Etta nod, he continued, “You can play some turf war and practice what I teach you, or you can nap the whole time, or anything else you want. Come back for dinner, an’ I’ll help you out with learnin’ the language. That work fer you?”

“Yes Cap”, Etta said, and started reaching for another book before pausing, “Oh! I found something before. I can not read it though. I will bring it here”, after she finished speaking she dashed off to the room she had been sleeping in. She came back a couple seconds later, holding some papers.

“Here”, she said as she handed the papers to him, “Can you read it?”

“Let me see…”

The papers looked like they would be better suited as scrapbook material, small as some of them were. It seemed as if Etta had organized them slightly, as there were three big paperclips separating them into three piles of sorts.The one on top appeared to be about the unique properties of the zapfish, written in some fancy, looping script.

He looked up at her, “Where did you find these? I haven’t seen this kind of writin’ in a good while.”

She nodded at him again (she did that a lot), “I find them when looking for zapfish. I think that an octarian forgetted them.”

“It’s fergot, not fergetted.” 

“Ah, okay. I think an octarian fergot them.”

“Good”, after correcting her grammar, he motioned for her to come closer to the papers, “This one is just some infermation on the zapfish. By the paper and the way it’s written, it looks to be from an old booklet fer teaching maybe.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out why she couldn’t read this one on her own. It used an old writing style that had be pretty dated when _he_ was young. She was still adjusting to a new alphabet, of course she couldn’t read advanced script!

She pointed to another one, this time a diagram of a standard octarian assault vehicle. It had a few notes and speculation on how it worked. 

“This one is about those machines that the octarians always ride on. It looks like some notes from someone who tried to figure out how they work.”

He passed the pages over to her and she looked intently at them, then back at him and smiled, “Thank you Cap’n. Can you read the last one? I can not read any of it.”

“Well I’ll try”, he said, bringing the third bunch of pages for a closer look.

“Well no wonder you can’t read this one! It’s written in octarian!”, he moved the paper a little closer to Etta as she looked intently.

“Octarian?”, she glanced at him briefly before going back to the paper.

“Yep! The language of the octarians! It’s been a good while since I’ve had to read this language. ‘Might be a little rusty”, he’d never really studied real octarian, but he knew lots of the similar but subtly different octoling. 

“As far as I can tell, this one just says that octarians live underground and use kettles to travel.”

He handed the papers back to Etta. Once she had them all back in her hands she spoke, “Thank you Cap. But I have a question? The Octarians, they have a different language?”

The captain nodded at her, “They have two actually. Octarian and octoling. They’re pretty similar, so if you know one well enough you can usually understand the other. Fer myself, I really only know octoling. But I know it well enough to figure out most octarian.”

He stood up from the table and made his way to one of the many boxes sitting around. “Now I have just the place fer those papers you found. Just gotta remember where it is… Aha!”

Success! He pulled out an old leather bound book and walked back to the table where Etta was looking very curious.

Placing the book on the table, he opened it to the blank first page and started speaking, “This is an old empty book that’s been sittin’ around fer years. Might as well get some use out of it. You can use it to organize any more of those papers you find.”

“Ah! Thank you Cap’n!”

He smiled at her, “Yer free fer the rest of the night. Just remember, yer trainin’ begins on the ‘morrow!”

Etta gathered up all her new belongings and headed for her room, calling out behind her, “I won’t ferget!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a while to write this one.
> 
> When I was learning french in an immersion program, I carried a visual dictionary everywhere. Those things are so useful.
> 
> I had the thought that it would be really funny if since Etta was learning to speak from Cap'n, that she started speaking with his accent. 
> 
> Anyways, once again, if you liked this, please leave a comment over here, or talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!


	7. Chapter 7

Away and above Octo Valley sits Inkopolis, the bright and bustling city of inklings and other assorted creatures. Among the individuals of this city are the famous Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie, also known as Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

It was late evening, and the cousins finally had some time to themselves after all their regular interviews and sudden meetings to talk about the newly returned zapfish. Retreating to their shared (somewhat luxurious) apartment, Callie went to the kitchen counter, while Marie sat at the table and opened her laptop.

It was Callie’s turn to cook. She was preparing a seafood soup, cutting up the meats and veggies in silence as she waited for the pot to boil when Marie suddenly slammed her laptop shut and spoke, “So are we just not gonna talk about it?”

Callie put down the knife and turned to Marie, “I don’t even know! It’s so weird!”

“Urgh… I mean I get what grandpa was talking about, we _are_ really busy, and an agent that’s not in the spotlight is good, I just really think he could’ve picked someone a little better!”

Callie let out a sigh and grimaced at the ceiling, “I just wish _we_ could help! We could totally blast through Octo Valley! Agents 1 and 2, roller and charger, ready to go! _Blam blam_!”

Marie opened up her laptop again and spoke, “Gramps _is_ right though… like I’m literally working on the outline for our next interview about the zapfish right now!”

“The one for SeaScape?”

It was Marie’s turn to let out a sigh, “Of course it’s SeaScape. Who else makes us plan and script out interviews so thoroughly? I can’t even be mad either, with how much effort they put into fact-checking.”

Callie smirked at her and said, “Hey, at least they’ve got good snacks on set.”

“Hey, at least you’re not writing this”, At Marie’s words Callie quickly turned back to preparing the food. She certainly didn’t want to to have to write out all those details. 

She didn’t have to worry though, because Marie changed the subject, “But anyways, back to the new agent.”

Not pausing with her chopping, Callie replied, “Even if we think it’s a bad idea, grandpa usually knows what he’s doing, you know? Like, he recruited me only after he saw how good I was with the roller. And gramps only let me recruit you after he saw you snipe 14 people in one turf war. He wouldn’t choose someone with no potential.”

“Not unless he was desperate! Didn’t he say that she was the only one who followed him?”

Pausing in her chopping again, Callie looked back at Marie before speaking, “Yeah I guess… It’s pretty lucky that she turned out to be good then. But Marie, don’t forget that he is personally training her. Plus she did actually defeat an Octoweapon. Like, _we_ would have trouble taking on one of those _together_.”

Sighing again, Marie put her head in her hands, “That’s true. All this is just covering up my real issue though.”

“What is it?”

Marie turned her laptop screen towards Callie, she exclaimed, “We know absolutely _nothing_ about her!”, she tapped on the keyboard a couple time and brought up one of the many profiles they had access to as secret agents, “Her turf profile was made 3 weeks ago,” she tapped another key, “Her personal file has no hometown _or_ year of birth,” she pointed at the name in the file, “There isn’t even a last name! It just says Etta K!”

 _What?_ Callie made a face, “How did you even find her profile if you didn’t know her name?”

Turning her laptop back around Marie replied, “Etta isn’t exactly a common name. All other Etta’s currently in Inkopolis have either lived here long enough that they’d be completely fluent, or they come from somewhere that speaks pretty much exclusively inkling. Speaking of which, we don’t even know what language she speaks!”

Turning back to the food, Callie sighed, “Ok, I guess that’s a little weird. Grandpa knows enough languages that him not even recognizing her language is kindaaa… weird.”

Marie grumbled again, “This is like, _important_. We need to know about our agents, and we don’t know the first thing about her! I would _never_ just recruit an agent off the street!”

Wow. _Marie’s really bothered by this._

“If it’s that big a deal we can get grandpa to, I dunno, talk to her or something. Or if we find the time we can talk to her ourselves.”

Callie could hear Marie slump on the table as she grumbled some more.

Callie finished chopping all the food and dumped it into the now boiling pot. After washing her hands she went over to sit at the table with Marie. 

She placed her elbows on the table, rested her chin in her hands, and said, “Hey, lemme see that profile. I didn’t get a reel good look at it before.”

Marie grumbled again, this time at Callie’s pun, and turned the laptop towards her cousin once again.

Callie narrowed her eyes as she looked at the incredibly sparse profile. Marie really wasn’t kidding when she said there was nothing.

It was like someone had started writing, given up after a minute, and forgotten to go back to it. Pointing to the screen Callie commented, “Wow. There isn’t even an age.”

They would _definitely_ have to talk to grandpa about this.

Callie turned the laptop back to Marie and leaned back, “Alright, you’re right, it is pretty bad. But y’know, it’s not like there’s anything we can do right now.”

With her laptop back in her hands, Marie started typing again. Probably working on the SeaScape interview again. 

“Ok, Callie. First chance we get, we ask grandpa to ask Agent 3 about just who she is. Or visit her in person if we can.”

“Deal. Now let’s talk about tomorrow’s stage rotation. Blackbelly Skatepark and Moray Towers will make for some interesting matches don’t you think?”

She and Marie ended up talking about which weapon was best for the skatepark for the rest of the evening and into dinner. Callie loved her cousin like a sister, but rollers were clearly superior to chargers, especially in the skatepark.

Eventually they both went to bed, knowing they had a busy few days ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no beta reader so if you see any mistake just point 'em out.
> 
> I thought that having Marie be really resistant to recruiting a random inkling to join the Splatoon would be funny considering that she, y'know does the same thing in Splatoon 2.
> 
> Anyways, the first real tidbits of info on Etta appear. Just who is she???
> 
> I've never written the squid sisters before so leave a comment to tell me how I'm doing so far. Or talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!


	8. Chapter 8

Rising with the sun was difficult for any inkling, and Etta was no exception. No one wanted to get up that early.

But get up she did, and the captain was waiting when she finally stumbled into the kitchen. They both scarfed down a quick breakfast before the captain led them over to the first kettle that Etta had explored.

Tapping his cane on the side of the kettle with a _klang!_ , He turned to Agent 3 and spoke, “Alrighty Agent 3! Today is the first day of yer agent trainin’! We’ll be usin’ this here kettle fer practice! Now follow me!”

Jumping into the kettle, he headed down the path and through the strange technology the octarians used. 

The bizarre paths that the octos built were used to transport them off the floating platforms of each sector, and into each underground chamber. From what inklings knew of the technology, it was similar to the home bases inklings returned to when splatted. They would pass through a fake checkpoint of sorts in the pipe that would lock them onto the actual checkpoint within the chamber. Then they would be able to super jump the rest of the way.

Once inside, if they were splatted, they would be able to return to their last checkpoint two more times before they would be forced back outside the kettle. It was the same for everyone, including octarians, likely as some sort of security measure.

The landing was a little rough, like always, and the captain moved out of the way to let Agent 3 land. 

Once she landed and shook all the excess ink off herself, he tapped his cane on the ground and motioned for her to follow. He walked over to the launchpad and super jumped to the next platform. When he landed, he once again moved out of the way to let her land.

The captain pointed to the open area and spoke, “Now, I need to know exactly what you can do. So! I’ll be testin’ out yer abilities! First, I wanna see how fast you can run, then how fast you swim…”

-

Cap’n asked him to help out!

Cap’n asked _him_ to help out!

Sheldon couldn’t _believe_ it. He was helping the Squidbeak Splatoon! Just like grandpappy! 

Of course as part of the tech team he couldn’t really get _too_ involved. But still!

At least he was half done reinstalling the zapfish. After working the entire morning. Who could’ve guessed that they’d be so fussy about how they were hooked up?

At least he was finally back in Inkopolis Plaza, and could open up shop! Even if it was mid-afternoon.

Sheldon unlocked the backdoor of Ammo Knights and entered his grandpa’s store. He set about quickly checking over everything, glad that he’d done all the cleaning yesterday and that he wouldn’t have to delay opening up any longer.

Lights on. Weapons displayed. Floor cleared.

He was ready. He opened up the front door and flipped the sign open, ready to face the (afternoon) day.

Customers came and went, and Sheldon gave out advice on how to get the most out of each weapon. 

He was restocking the blasters when a familiar customer came in. 

Now, as someone who sees upwards of one hundred customers each day, it was usually hard to remember a specific name or face. That said, it was hard to forget this one. It wasn’t every day that you met an inkling who didn’t speak the language, let alone one in Inkopolis.

The pale inkling girl walked in and, as usual, he greeted her, “Hello, hello! What kind of weapon are you… oh! Wow! Aren’t you looking fresh!”

It was true. In the few weeks since she’d shown up he’d noticed that she was steadily looking stronger and fresher, but today it was like she’d super jumped a level up!

She had a new outfit, way better than that basic tee she'd been wearing before. And some new kicks too! Sporting a new denim jacket and some red rain boots that went surprisingly well with her outfit, she looked cool and confident.

At his words the girl looked excited and clasped her hand together, “Ah! Really?”

Sheldon nodded and started walking over to a display shelf, “Yes! I’d say that you’re ready for the inkbrush!”, He said as he lifted the brush weapon off its stand and returned to his customer.

He handed her the weapon and launched into his speech on the various uses of the brush only to stop when he realized she wasn’t really paying attention.

Figures. No one ever wanted to listen to all the details.

Though now that he was looking at her a little more closely, he could see that despite her newfound freshness, she looked pretty tired. 

“Ah. I am very tired. I am starting new training.”

Oh, he’d said that out loud. Embarrassing.

Trying not to let his embarrassment show, he spoke, “Well, whatever it is you’re doing, it’s working. You look way fresher that you did even yesterday!”

After thanking him she ended up buying the inkbrush and cheerfully leaving.

-

Hmm.

The captain was inside the shack, looking over at the notes he’d made about Agent 3’’s abilities.

Well, Agent 3 was an incredibly fast runner, which was quite uncommon. Most inklings preferred to swim through their ink if they need to move fast. Not much point in learning to run fast if you can swim faster with less effort!

On the other hand, she was slow as a snail when it came to swimming. He’d mistaken her slowness for stealth before, but it was clear after testing her that she really was just slow. She couldn’t even really change into a squid very quickly. Though she was faster turning back into her inkling form. 

She also didn’t exactly have the best aim. She could get away with the bad aim while using the hero shot, but she had zero accuracy with the splat bombs.

It would be best if they started with her swim speed. Hopefully that’d help her get faster at transforming at the same time.

Maybe he should set up an obstacle course?

He’d need some supplies for it. Though maybe they could just go to Sheldon’s shooting range.

He’d figure it out later. For now, he had some dinner to make!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some speculation on octo tech and Sheldon doing his thing.
> 
> I hope that I have everyone in character at least. If you liked this, or if you saw any mistakes, please leave a comment! Or talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!
> 
> **Aug 5 2018 edit: added a description of Etta's outfit. She's got the Krak-On 528 and Acerola Rain Boots. No headgear, though she could technically be wearing the fake contacts.**


	9. Chapter 9

“Agent 3! Stop fer a moment,” The captain’s voice rang out in the air around the floating platform.

Agent 3 paused and looked back from her swim circuit to yell, “Huh?”

Day 2 of training was focused on swim speed. Agent 3 was currently working on trying to swim around a narrow twisting path of green ink as fast as she could. The goal was to control her acceleration and deceleration. She would need to slow down for any turns, and quickly gain speed for any straight portions of the circuit.

The captain motioned for her to come closer, and she did, “You rely a whole lot on usin’ yer tentacles fer paddlin’ along, and normally that’s enough. You control yer steerin’ reel well that way.”

The captain walked them both over to a straight part of the loop and pointed to it before speaking again, “Most inklings can get by just usin’ their tentacles to swim. Unfortunately fer you, yer tentacles aren’t strong enough to get the speed you need,” He tapped his cane on the ground, “So! I shall be teachin’ you some more advanced methods!”

He started to pace along the strip of ink, “Not many end up doin’ this simply because they don’t think of it. When our ancient ancestors lived in the ocean, they would swim by taking water in their bodies and propellin’ themselves with it. Now, we can’t swim in water anymore, but we can use the same principle with ink!”

The captain turned to Agent 3 and thumped on his chest, right over his ink sack, “When you swim in ink yer colour, you can take ink into yer ink sack and shoot it out to give yerself a mighty burst of speed. You can jump farther and climb walls faster. It also helps to fill yer tank. But it can be hard to control and it’ll feel mighty strange at first. Are you ready to try it?”

Agent 3 looked so excited that she was practically vibrating, “Yes!”

Half an hour later Etta was nursing an ice pack against her head, bruised from crashing into a wall at a high speed.

At least inklings don’t have skulls!

-

They were on day 5 of agent training and Etta’s skills had improved remarkably. She could swim much, much faster, though she was still a little slower than average. She was also faster at changing into a squid.

Her aim still sucked. But that would take more time.

They were eating a late dinner of fish stew and talking about more training. The captain was trying to get Etta to practice talking more. And trying to think of things for her to actually talk about.

“Hmm… How about you talk about what you were up to before I recruited you.”

Etta paused her eating and put her spoon down, looking thoughtful.

“Umm… I did not do lots. I traveled lots and… I played turf war?”

“In that case, talk about some of the places you’ve been.”

“Hmm…”, Etta put her elbow on the table and her head in her palm, “I traveled past some cities like... Kape Kraken and Los Angelfish. Also, I traveled past Calamari County.”

“Ha!” The captain interrupted her, “Calamari County is my old home! I haven’t been there in years. Tell me how it’s lookin’ these days.”

Etta was slightly startled by his outburst but quickly regained focus, “I thinked… um… thought it was very nice”, she slipped on her grammar slightly, then corrected herself before continuing. “There was lots of fields and plants. It was clean. And warm”

“Glad to know it’s still a nice place. Good ol’ home of Calamari County”, The captain paused then decided to ask, “Speakin’ of homes, where’s yers? It’d have to be a place without many inklings, right?”

“My home?”, Etta once again looked thoughtful. “Yes. There is… There are not many inklings there but there are many different people. People speak the same language... It is very different here. I like being here.”

“It’s good that yer likin’ it here. How didja end up travelin’ around?”

“I wanted to… see more things? Away from my home. I lived in my home for all of my life and I wanted to go because I was almost fifteen years old.” 

She paused for a second to gather her thoughts and the captain decided to ask another question, “How long’ve you been traveling?”

“I have only traveled for… two months? My birthday was five weeks ago I think.”

“Happy late birthday!”, he laughed, “I thought you were fourteen when I saw you. Most inklings come to Inkopolis when they’re fourteen.”  
“Ah, thank you Cap.”

The captain leaned back in his chair, “Yer better at speakin’ now too. Usin’ different verb tenses. Though you could go expandin’ that vocabulary o’ yers.”

Etta looked excited to heard that and smiled, “That is good! Thank you!”

They finished off the meal in relative silence, mostly talking about tomorrow’s training (target practice) with the captain correcting Etta’s grammar every now and then. They cleaned up the dishes and Etta went off to do some reading in her room, while the captain wrote out some more details for tomorrow.

The captain got caught up in his work and some time passed without him realizing. The next time he look at the clock on the stove he realized it was well past the time most inklings would be asleep.

Oh well. He really didn’t need too much sleep these days anyways.

He was putting his notes away and starting to get ready to sleep when he heard his communicator ringing on the counter. 

He got up to look at who was calling at this time of the night (it could technically be considered morning actually). 

He picked up the device and looked at the tiny screen. It looked like it was from Sheldon

Grumbling a bit at the late call he answered, “Hello Sheldon. It’s a little late to call today. What’re you callin’ fer?”

All of his sleepiness vanished at what Sheldon said next though.

“Cap’n! It’s the Octarians! There’s a bunch of ‘em at the entrance to Inkopolis! I think they’re trying to steal more zapfish while everyone’s asleep! There’s even an _octostriker_ leading them!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meant to finish this two days ago but I got distracted playing splatoon 2.
> 
> Real squids move short distances with their tentacles and fins, and will use jet propulsion to move quickly. I think it would be something inklings don't really use anymore mostly because no one really knows they can. Think of it like how you can jump to climb walls faster, but more.
> 
> I'm moving the first octostriker mission up closer. You can do the each sector's missions in any order anyways. 
> 
> Also, we learn a little bit more about Etta. And her age which I said was fifteen instead of fourteen because I felt like it.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to Chips n salsa who left a wonderful comment on the last chapter! Thank you!
> 
> Leave a comment if you liked my story! It'll really make my day! And feel free to talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com) too!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made a tiny edit on chapter 8 to include Etta's current outfit. Not _super_ important or anything, but if you were wondering what she was wearing, you can look there.

Sheldon sent a quick map to the captain’s portable scanner of where the octarians had been spotted. While it was loading the captain went to wake up Agent 3. 

He burst into the room, startling Agent 3 awake, and yelled, “Octarians! Agent 3! They’re near Inkopolis, tryin’ to steal back more zapfish! Get yer gear on and let’s go!”

The captain rushed back to the the now loaded map, ignoring Agent 3’s loud “ _Buh?_ ”. He looked at the locations of the octarians, trying to figure out what angle of attack would be best.

From the map that Sheldon had marked, they were all over the south border to the city. The octostriker was at the head of the attack, while the other octarians were spread out behind and to the sides of it. 

Hmm. They couldn’t just force their way through, or face it head on. That was way too many octarians for one agent to fight. 1 and 2 were out of Inkopolis too, so they couldn’t help. 

_But_ … The captain looked a little closer at the path the octarians had chosen. _There!_ The right flank of the force was passing through a narrow-ish path with high walls. If Agent 3 went through there, it would leave any octotroopers she encountered relatively isolated! Plus, any backup they called would either be a few puny octocopters, or take too long to climb over the walls!

Just then, Agent 3 walked into the main room, jacket and shoes on, teal tentacles a mess, holding onto the hero headset. “Cap’n, what is happening?”, she asked, rubbing one eye sleepily.

The captain motioned for her to come closer to the small screen, “Agent 3. There is a large group of octarians movin' toward Inkopolis.”

Agent 3 looked startled, so he kept speaking, “They’re near the south of the city, being lead by an octostriker. They’re a very dangerous type of octarian. Look just like an octobomber, but they can launch inkstrikes with devastatin’ accuracy.”

“So, I will fight it?”

“It’s probably got the zapfish powerin’ this invasion, so yes”, He paused and pointed to the path that he’d found through the octarians, “We’ll sneak up behind and through this path here, then you’ll go through this alleyway. You’ll have to be as sneaky as possible. Take out any octarians that you have to, but try to stay unnoticed. Hide in yer ink whenever you can. Once that octostriker spots you, there’ll be reinforcements swarmin’ all around.”

Agent 3 spent a few more seconds looking at the map, then stood up straight, and said in a determined voice, “I am ready Cap’n!”

“Good. I’ll explain more once we’re there. But for now”, he turned around and pointed his cane at the door, “Squidbeak, let’s go!”

-

The invasion was going well so far. 

Striking this late into the night was genius. The lazy inklings would all be asleep and they could attack without interference. They could take back the stolen zapfish-and more!

Ideas like this were why Octavio was DJ, and had been DJ for longer than Inkurren had been alive. He was honoured to be the octostriker commander chosen for this important mission. 

He had his trademarked weapon. A modified octostrike, the weapon used by octostrikers like himself that amplified his natural inkshots into more powerful vortexes, increasing the duration of each strike. He’d made adjustments to the helmet himself, improving the goggles to increase the range and accuracy, and putting in another charging chamber to further increase the firepower. He could see and control entire battlefields from his zapfish-powered ship.

He’d also been given a splatoon of soldiers. Octotroopers adept at stealth, octocopters, some twintacle troopers, and even a pair of octolings were part of his squad. Enough soldiers to cover the area, take zapfish, and scare off intruders. And if they were spotted, they could make speedy, stealthy getaways.

It wasn’t the biggest squad he’d ever had. No, that was during the mass theft of the zapfish (DJ Octavio’s idea again) three weeks ago, when he’d combined forces with octocommanders, octosnipers, and his fellow octostrikers to steal away the zapfish when no one was looking.

They’d taken so many of the powerful catfish in those two weeks. DJ Octavio himself had gone on the mission to retrieve the Great Zapfish.

All of their missions had succeeded, and they were well on their way to taking every last zapfish from those undeserving inklings.

But.

 _Someone_ was stealing their hard-earned zapfish!

From the accounts of the squads that had been attacked, the perpetrator was an inkling.

An inkling.

An _inkling!_

Those stupid, vapid, selfish creatures that hogged the land, sunlight, and power! The ones that had won the Great Turf War through sheer luck! The ones who were so easily distracted that the octarian forces had managed to steal 31 zapfish _and_ the Great Zapfish-without being caught!

Inkurren couldn’t believe it. Really now. 

An inkling.

 _One_ inkling, from the reports of those that witnessed the creature. 

_One_ inkling had infiltrated three different bases. _One_ inkling had defeated entire squads, positioned to protect the zapfish. _One. Single_ inkling had escaped said bases before anyone could even notice it was there, and identify it through the security cameras that went offline as soon as the zapfish was stolen.

What was more, they couldn’t even reach the bases that had been hit! Taking the zapfish scrambled the kettle’s signal, and it’d need to be painstakingly, manually, reset before they could get to the bases again. 

And no one could figure how the inkling got in in the first place!

This wasn’t even mentioning the mess it made of the Octostomp. It would probably take a year or two to put the thing back together after the damage it had done with its ink. 

_One inkling._

Well, they wouldn’t need to worry about it now. The inkling would be asleep, like the rest of its kind, and the octarians could strike at full force in the darkness.

Inkurren went back to surveying the area, on the watch for intruders and trouble, ready to command his splatoon.

-

Cap’n Cuttlefish and Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon crept quietly through the darkness. They left Octo Valley, taking the pipes to an exit south of the City of Colour. As the came closer to their goal, the captain kept an eye on his portable scanner, making sure that no octarians got close enough to sound the alarm.

The closer they got, the more clearly they could see the eerie octarian machine, floating in the sky like looming flyfish salmonid. Only higher. And more threatening.

Once the captain deemed them close enough, they snuck behind a thin bush, and the captain set up his gear while Agent 3 did a few quick stretches.

“Alright Agent 3”, he whispered, motioning for her to look at his scanner screen, “Here’s what gonna happen. They set up a temporary spawn point at the end of this alley”, he pointed at the large teal dot on the screen.

“That headset of yers can be used to trick the spawn point into thinking yer one of them. Our tech guy designed it so it can sync at the click of a key”, the captain tapped the synchronize key, “And it’s done. Now, you’ll get yerself to that checkpoint and keep pressin’ forward as quietly as you can. Don’t let any octarians spot you.”

He tapped the scanner screen, “I’ll be guidin’ you from here. I’ll warn you when there’s octarians near, and help you avoid the glare of that octostriker.”

“Ok Cap’n”, Agent 3 replied, then paused and asked, “But. How do I get to octosriker?”

“Glad you asked”, the captain pointed to the opposite end of the alley, where there was a small teal swirl, “There’s a launchpad at the end of this alley. They probably placed it there so they could get to the captain quick. That’s yer ticket to that slimey octostriker. And once you take back the zapfish, their spawnpoints’ll power down, and they’ll be forced to pull back.”

Looking right into Agent 3’s brown eyes he asked, “Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, are you ready fer this mission?”

Agent 3 stood up as straight as she could behind their shelter bush and replied in a firm voice.

“Yes Cap’n.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this chapter at 2 am so there might be a couple mistakes. If you see any let me know.
> 
> I was gonna write the entire fight into this chapter, but Inkurren the octostrike's monologue went on for longer than I thought it would. I put in some details on why Etta was able to train at the cleared kettle, and some octarian opinions on inklings. The name Inkurren comes from Incirrina, a suborder of octopi. I put in the word ink and made it eight letters long. It also coincidentally sounds like gurren so that's cool I guess.
> 
> I got the idea for DJ to be an official title, and not just what they call Octavio from Littlemapleleaf's story [First Aid Kits and Deep Secrets](https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/4692170) which is pretty much a must read for Splatoon fanfiction.
> 
> I think the checkpoints used in the octostrike and octoling levels would be different, so I made up a reason why the headset's important for more than just communication. I'll cover more on why the hero suit is so important later.
> 
> I'm hoping to get the next chapter out soon. Comment and tell me what you think of this chapter, or what you think'll happen next. Or talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!


	11. Chapter 11

Agent 3 let herself home in on the spawn point and disappeared from the captain’s side.

Once she was gone, he got ready to set up his lookout. He took out the scope that he’d brought with him and set it up to peek through the bush that hid him.

It was a nifty little thing. It was one of the many add-ons that Ammoses had created to allow the captain’s trusty bamboozler to be taken apart and customized.

As soon as he’d finished setting the scope up, he turned on his communicator to speak to Agent 3. “Alright Agent 3. I can see yer position. Keep moving forward right now. There should only be one way forward. When I say hide, the octostriker is lookin’ yer way, so hide under anythin’ you can. And try not to use yer ink unless you have to. We don’t want ‘em to know we’re here.”

-

The invasion was still going smoothly so far. Not that that was surprising.

It was really kind of boring actually. 

But he would stay vigilant!

The information they’d gathered said there would be a zapfish near some sort of skatepark. The radar they had was able to confirm that the little fish was somewhere in the area, they just had to thoroughly search the area.

Inkurren scanned the ground once again, not really expecting to see anything.

 _Oh wait._ There was some movement!

Inkurren focused his vision where he saw the suspicious movement, preparing for the worst… and was not impressed. 

_Ugh_. It was just a gusher near some stairs. One of the octarians must’ve nudged it. Those thing were notorious for going off at the slightest touch.

Oh well. It’s not like it’d draw much attention like this, and Inkurren trusted his splatoon not to carelessly walk into it and get splatted. He waited until it stopped squirting out ink before he doing anything else.

He sighed and went to watch over the other side of the area. He could see some octarians searching in the skatepark, just wandering around. It didn’t look like they were having much luck.

Just as he thought that, his radio turned on and he heard the staticy voice of the twintacle trooper in charge. 

“Captain, we’re not finding anything here. Can you see anywhere we haven’t looked from up there?”

“Hmm…”, Inkurren glanced around the skatepark, trying to find a place he hadn’t seen anyone look yet. “There a small building a little to the west. It doesn’t look like a residential building and it’s the only building in the area, so that might be part of the maintenance. They might’ve stored the zapfish in there. Take some of your squad with you and report back to me if you find anything.”

“Yes captain.”

The radio went silent and Inkurren turned back to watch some more. Still nothing, but that was a good thing.

He spent the next few minutes between giving directions and watching nothing happen when it happened.

Out of nowhere, his radio flared to like, spitting out the frantic voice of one of the octolings. She was stationed near the UFO that had crashed when they were first stealing zapfish.

“Captain! Intruder! It’s the inkling! It’s right here! It’s- _GUH_!”

At the octolings scream, the radio abruptly cut off, leaving the air silent.

Dread and indignation filled Inkurren, and he immediately turned toward where the octoling had been and launched the strongest ink shot he could. As he looked over the edge of the ship, watching the ink cyclone dissipate, he thought he saw just a little bit of teal ink. Most of it had be covered by his own magenta, but some of it was up along the wall and ground, right near where they’d placed the…

_Oh no._

He had the thought just a second too late, so he didn’t see the moment the inkling thumped down on his ship.

He flipped around just quickly enough to dodge the inkling’s first shot and be face to face with the creature.

-

“Agent 3, yer as sneaky as a starfish! Good job on avoidin’ all those octos!”

Agent 3 had kept mostly quiet to avoid getting caught and only made a small noise of acknowledgement, so the captain continued talking.

“It took a while to sneak through that area, but you did it! Now, the area up ahead should be clear for the next minute or so before the octos come back to it. See if you can get through now.”

Agent 3’s dot on the screen move forward up the slope and past another checkpoint. The captain watched her location and made sure that the octostriker was looking well away from where she was when he heard Agent 3 squak. 

“Agent 3! What happened!”

He looked at the camera feed from her headset and nearly sighed in relief when he didn’t see any octarians. It was just a gusher. She must’ve nudged it it or something. 

But an active gusher might draw attention. “Agent 3. There’s no octarians, but you should hide in case that gusher it attracted any unwanted visitors.”

Agent 3 looked around so quickly that she almost made him dizzy before running up to a tree.

 _A tree is good cover but it might not be enough for this._ is what he might’ve thought had she not scrambled up into the branches faster than he could blink. 

Well. That solved that.

Just in time too, he noted. The octostriker had seen the gusher. The captain just had to hope that the octarian wouldn’t think anything of it.

“Stay where you are, Agent 3.”

They were lucky, and the octarian looked away. The captain waited a few extra moments, and when he saw the octostriker face away and talk into a radio he thought it safe to go.

Up next were several nerve-racking minutes where Agent 3 had to avoid the octarians around the downed UFO. 

She did get past without being spotted though. 

Agent 3 hurried around the corner relieved to be out of the area. 

Only to come face to face with an octoling that the scanner hadn’t picked up.

Both cephalopods froze for a moment that seemed to stretch on. The captain was surprised too. 

He had time to think of two things.

One: through the camera he could see from the lack of kelp that the octoling girl wasn’t an elite soldier. 

And two: Agent 3 had never encountered an octoling, and might not know if this was an enemy.

The moment was broken though, when the octoling reached for some kind of communicator and spoke quickly. The captain couldn’t quite tell what she was saying through the radio, but he heard the word ‘intruder’ and it kicked him back into gear.

“Agent 3! Splat her quickly!”

Agent 3 was lucky, and the octoling was too distracted trying to alert her leader to dodge the hero shot.

He knew it was too late though. 

“The launchpad’s just up those walls! Get yerself up there as fast a you can!”

The captain looked through his scope again, and saw that the octostriker was turned to Agent 3’s location and was charging up an octostrike.

“Hurry Agent 3! Octostrike inkomin’!”

Agent 3 didn’t reply, too busy covering the wall in ink. She rushed at the wall and jetted herself up the ink. In the back of his mind, the captain noted that she was using her new technique. 

The octostriker had finished charging up and shot the missile of ink down where Agent 3 had been moments ago. The strike exploded against the ground, rising into a swirling cyclone of ink, high enough that the captain could see it from his hiding spot. Far more powerful than the average octostrike.

Agent 3 was almost up the second wall, and the magenta ink was still fogging up the air, probably blocking most of the view. 

Agent 3 finished climbing, and ran straight toward the launchpad. She jumped in it, charged up, and soared up onto the octostriker’s UFO, landing with a thump on another checkpoint.

Now the captain could see her with his scope. She fired off a shot the octostriker just barely dodged, and they both stared at each other for a moment. 

Through the headset camera he could see the octostriker was hovering just to the side of the large pool of magenta ink. It had a helmet that looked slightly different from the usual. It’d been a few years since the captain had see an octostriker, so maybe they’d designed new helmets? 

As he pondered on the headgear, the octostriker started speaking into a small radio, probably calling reinforcements. He was about to tell Agent 3 to attack, but she took the initiative herself and rushed forward, hero shot ablazing.

“Octostriker are long range fighters, Agent 3! Get close if you can!”

While agent 3 fought the octarian, the captain looked around the area, trying to see if any reinforcements were incoming. He saw a few octocopters starting to fly toward the ship.

“If you don’t defeat that octostriker soon, yer gonna have company!”

Instead of answering, Agent 3 started shouting something at the octostriker, and tossed a splat bomb out behind it. The octostriker saw it and flew up out of the blast range, charging up and octostrike.

Agent 3 sprinted away from the blast, trying to get closer to the octostriker. After firing the octostrike, the octarian descended slightly, just barely into the hero shot’s range. She got in a couple good hits before the octostriker flew back up.

The captain noticed that the UFO was getting closer to the ground, and closer to the octocopters. They were almost hovering over where the other UFO had crashed.

The octostriker let out another octostrike, just in time for the first octocopter to arrive. The captain didn’t even have to warn Agent 3 before she dodged the ink cyclone and turned the hero shot on the small octarian. While she did splat it, the time she spent meant that she lost her chance at shooting the leader. 

More octocopters arrived, and Agent 3 alternated between dodging octostrikes, splatting octocopters, and taking a few shots at the octostriker. All the while the ship got closer to the ground. The octostriker was probably too busy concentrating on Agent 3 to steer properly.

After the eighth or so octocopter, Agent 3 got her chance. When she dodged the octostrike, there were no octopcopers to get in her way, and the octostriker fell a little too close to the ink covered surface of the ship. 

Agent 3 rushed forward, nearly close enough to touch, and blasted the octarian with all her strength. 

She splatted it in an instant, and the pool of ink started to drain. 

“Alright Agent 3! The zapfish should be in the center of the ship. Take it before that octarian comes back!”

As the ink level lowered more, the sphere which held the zapfish peeked out from under the liquid. Agent 3 approached once the level was low enough and cracked open the sphere with the hero shot. 

“Yer close enough to the ground that you can just take it now. Grab it to shut off the checkpoints and I’ll head over to yer location.”

The captain put away his scope and watched as the ship fell a small distance to the ground when the zapfish was removed. 

He packed up his things and made his way over to Agent 3, ready to congratulate her. He took out his communicator and called Sheldon while he walked. 

They’d need some help for cleanup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this done sooner, but I had a summer exam that got in the way. Also I've been playing possibly too much Tales of Symphonia.
> 
> I hope this was an exciting enough adventure because I didn't really proofread it lmao.
> 
> Also, Inkurren will make his return someday... in a while. I also mentioned Cap'n's bamboozler. I've got some ideas for that.
> 
> Tell me what you thought of this chapter! Or talk on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Up next: we see what Sheldon's been doing!


	12. Chapter 12

The captain eventually made his way over to where Etta was. When he got there, she was slumped against the grounded UFO, half asleep, though she perked up when he arrived. 

She was luckily completed uninjured, so he told to her to follow him to where they’d meet Sheldon. 

They wandered toward the plaza to meet Sheldon halfway, and Etta grumbled about wanting to sleep. 

“You’ll get to sleep soon, Etta. I just want to get you to meet our tech guy while yer still here. He the one who’s been reinstallin’ the zapfish.”

“Urgh, ok…”

They reached their meeting point (a checkpoint closer to the square, a little ways down an alley), and Etta decided to lie face down on the ground instead of sitting. The captain decided not to say anything about it this time, because it _was_ late, and she had worked hard. She deserved to rest a bit. 

By the time Sheldon arrived, Etta was softly snoring. Sheldon jogged towards them as soon as he caught sight of them.

“Cap’n! Sorry it took so long to get here! This stuff can be pretty heavy.”

Sheldon was carrying a case that contained the tools needed to properly disassemble the checkpoints. The case was pretty much as big as he was.

Sheldon opened the case and took out a drill. He started to walk to the checkpoint and paused when he saw the unresponsive agent still lying on the ground. “Uh, is this the new agent? Is… is she ok?”

The captain chuckled, “She’s perfectly fine Sheldon, just real tired from fightin’. We’ll let her rest while we get rid of this checkpoint. I’ll introduce you two when we move to the next one.”

Sheldon shrugged and nodded before getting to work. He started talking as he worked, “It’s really lucky that I was awake at the right time to see the octarians. I was working on some upgrades to the hero weapons and I looked up at just time right time to see octarians appear on the map.”

“Yes. Attackin’ during the night was a smart move on their part. We might need to set up an alarm in case they try it again.”

Sheldon finished removing the outer part of the checkpoint before he spoke again, “My thoughts exactly Cap’n. That’s the other reason why it took me so long to get here. I set up an alert to go off where I am if the octarians come back. I haven’t connected it to the agent communicators yet, so if it goes off, I’ll have to manually alert everyone”, Sheldon walked back to his case and reached inside, pulling out a small device. “I also brought a model of the new agent communicator here too! I heard Agent 3 doesn’t have one yet.”

“Oh good! I’ve been meaning to make sure Agent 3 gets one of those!”

After a few minutes, Sheldon finished taking the checkpoint apart. Sheldon looked at his map to find the way to the next nearest checkpoint, while the captain went to wake Etta.

He walked up to the sleeping agent and poked her head with his cane. “Up and at ‘em Agent 3!”

At his prodding, Etta grumble, opening her eyes to squint up at the captain, “Urgh… what?”

“I’ve gotta introduce you to our tech guy! Then you can go back to the cabin and sleep some more.”

Etta perked up at the prospect of more sleep, though she still grumbed at little as she got off the ground. Once she was up, the captain led her over to where Sheldon was getting ready to move to the next checkpoint. 

The captain swept his arm out in Etta’s direction, and introduced her, “This here is Etta, the new agent!”, he then swept his arm toward Sheldon, “And this is Sheldon, but you’ve probably seen him at Ammo Knights.”

Sheldon turned to greet Etta and stopped in surprised when he saw her, “Oh! It’s you! So the person you were training with was Cap’n!”

Etta looked surprised too. “Yes, I know you!”

The captain chuckled again, “Well, we’ll take apart the checkpoints on the way back to the valley, so you two can talk a bit while we walk, and Etta can get to sleep a little faster.”

-

“So, Etta, you still haven’t met Agent’s 1 and 2 yet, have you?” Sheldon asked. 

Etta, still looking tired, replied, “No, I have not met them. You have met them?”

“Yeah. I’ve been with the splatoon a while now. And I’ve known Agent’s 1 and 2 even longer.”

Etta looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked, “They are nice?”

Sheldon laughed lightly, “Yeah, they’re both really nice. And good at their jobs. It was really bad luck that they happen to be out of Inkopolis right now. If they were here, they’d have been able to help out.”

Even if they were going to nearby checkpoints, it was still a little ways away, so Sheldon had plenty of time to get to know Agent 3. Sheldon thought Etta was really nice, trying to be polite and pay attention even if she was tired. 

She was about the same size as Callie, so the hero suit fit her perfectly. It looked good on her, making her look like a confident agent as long as you didn’t look at her face and see her eyes dropping as she struggled to keep awake. She was also a little hesitant with her words, speaking slowly and simply, through her accent.

In an effort to stay awake, Etta asked another question, “Am I meeting them soon?”

Cap’n answered her, “You might not meet ‘em for a little bit. Those two’re pretty busy.”

“Ah, ok.”

At that, Sheldon remembered the communicator he still needed to give Etta. He stopped suddenly, making the other two pause in confusion. 

“Wait just one second. I nearly forgot about this when I realized that I recognized you!”, Sheldon put down his his case and dug around inside for the small device, pulling it out with a triumphant sound, “Aha!”

The communicator had the same outward design as most common cellphones. The case on this one was the coincidentally the same teal that Etta was currently using. It was small, and could easily be carried in a pocket.

Inside the device, Sheldon had installed the advanced wireless chip that allowed it to communicate faster and farther than the majority of phones. The chip would also allow access to a Squidbeak Splatoon exclusive network. The communicator could also encrypt and decrypt almost any signal or message. It could be easily taken apart to repair or replace any part of it. 

In short, it was an incredibly versatile and durable creation.

Sheldon started to explain all this, but stopped when he realized that Etta’s eyes were glazed over in incomprehension, “Ahem, sorry. All you really need to know is how to communicate on it.”

They all started walking again, with Cap’n walking just a little ahead of the two of them.

Sheldon showed her the screen, and guided her through the set up and security. Once she finished setting her passwords, he showed her how to use the apps. 

He pointed to a blue icon, “So you can call people using this. This is the regular voice app that anyone can call you through. And the green one here is the agent line. This is the one that you’ll use for any agent stuff. Only Squidbeak communicator can get through here, and you can only contact other Squidbeak communicators through it.”

Etta nodded, “Ok. I use the green to talk to Cap’n?”

“Yep! And there orange and red apps are for texting, the main feature that I added on here.” Sheldon paused as he thought for a moment, “Wait, you do know how to text, right?”

Laughing slightly, Etta replied, “Yes. I am very slow. I am not good with the alphabet. My alphabet is different.”

“Well that’s good”, Sheldon laughed in return, “Cap’n pretty much refuses to learn. But anyway, it’s like with the voice apps, orange is the regular app, red is the agent app. You don’t have anyone but Cap’n on here right now. I’ll get Agent’s 1 and 2 to add you to the agent chat they have, so you can at least talk to them. And I think that’s it!”

Sheldon finished his explanation just in time, as Cap’n called from up ahead, “Oi, Etta! We’re almost at a way back to Octo Valley. You wanna head on through now?”

Cap’n was pointing to a covered grate down an alleyway. When Etta heard him speak, she nearly sprinted over, leaving Sheldon in the dust.

“Yes! I want to sleep!”, Etta hurried on into the grate, eager to have her well-earned sleep, “Goobye!”

Cap’n and Sheldon said their goodbyes to Etta, watching her leave, before they set out for a long night of cleaning up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh, couldn't think of a really good way to end this chapter. 
> 
> I made Etta's (and Callie and Marie's) communicators more like a smartphone than a walkie talkie. I put in the ability to text along with some other stuff I made up on the spot. 
> 
> But now Etta's met Sheldon! And she'll be able to text the squid sisters soon! What will happen then???
> 
> Anyway, leave a comment if you liked this, or if you saw any errors cause I didn't proofread again. Or talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.hamsteak4lif.tumblr.com)!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit: Changed the day of the week**

**12:35 pm: Agent 2 is now online!**

**Agent 2 messaged Henrietta3 Thursday 12:35 pm:**

**Agent 2:** hey are you awake yet

 **Agent 2:** sheldon said you were up fighting octarians wayyyy late

 **Agent 2:** so i held off on messaging you

 **Agent 2:** i guess youre still asleep???

 **Agent 2:** anyway

 **Agent 2:** 1 and i have a group chat for agents

 **Agent 2:** even if its just us two rn

 **Agent 2:** when you wake up just tap the invite

**Agent 2 has invited Henrietta3 to “Agent Chat”**

**Agent 2:** also whats with the name?

 **Agent 2:** i thought your name was etta

**1:50 pm: Henrietta3 is now online!**

**Henrietta3:** my name is etta

 **Agent 2:** dude its almost 2

 **Agent 2:** uhh just get into the group chat i guess

-

**Henrietta3 joined “Agent Chat” Thursday 1:54 pm:**

**Agent 1:** woooo here she is!

 **Agent 1:** but isnt ur name etta?

 **Agent 2:** yeah i asked that too

 **Agent 1:** …i dont think shes a fast typer

 **Henrietta3:** yes my name is etta 

**Agent 2:** so why henrietta3

 **Henrietta3:** henrietta is my name also

 **Agent 1:** oh so like

 **Agent 1:** etta is ur nickname

 **Henrietta3:** yes

 **Agent 2:** cool

 **Agent 2:** so uh

 **Agent 2:** whats up

 **Agent 1:** yeah hows it going 

**Henrietta3:** i woke up ten minutes before now

 **Agent 1:** that is way too late to wake up

 **Agent 1:** but i guess you kinda deserve to sleep in after what you did

 **Agent 1:** you seriously took on an invasion force by yourself???

 **Agent 2:** that takes guts

 **Agent 1:** yeah even i wouldnt wanna do that without 2 to back me up

 **Henrietta3:** it was difficult

 **Henrietta3:** i am very tired

 **Agent 2:** yeah ill bet

 **Agent 2:** plus youd been training with capn before right

 **Agent 1:** oh yeah thats right

 **Agent 1:** capns training really works you hard huh

 **Henrietta3:** yes

 **Agent 1:** so how late were you actually up?

 **Agent 1:** sheldon didnt say but he sounded super tired when he called us

 **Henrietta3:** i returned at five

 **Agent 2:** 5 AM???

 **Henrietta3:** yes

 **Agent 2:** sheldon said he detected the octos at like 4

 **Agent 2:** so you got ready AND beat them in an hour???

 **Agent 1:** damn you didnt even need our help

 **Agent 1:** not that we were even in inkopolis to help

 **Agent 1:** our day job brought us out of the city so we didnt even hear about this whole thing until a couple hours ago

 **Agent 1:** kinda sucks but it looks like you got things handled without us

 **Agent 2:** hold on im being called in for a meeting

 **Agent 2:** gotta go for now

**2:26 pm: Agent 2 is now offline!**

**Agent 1:** i should probably get going soon too actually

 **Agent 1:** you got any questions or stuff you wanna say before i skedaddle?

Hentrietta3: i can not think of any

 **Agent 1:** well if you think of any just shoot a message off over here

 **Agent 1:** btw i heard sheldon was gonna open up the kettles to some more bases tonight

 **Agent 1:** you dont have to be there but its kinda neat to see

 **Agent 1:** anyway i really do have to go now so 

**Agent 1:** see ya!

**2:29 pm: Agent 1 is now offline!**

**Henrietta3:** goodbye

**2:30 pm: Henrietta3 is now offline!**

-

Sheldon closed shop early that day, gathered what he needed in a big case, and started on the long path to Octo Valley sometime after 7, just as the sun was beginning its descent. 

It took him a while to travel, and when he got there, Cap’n and Etta were already waiting for him. 

The two of them were standing near the path to the next sector of floating platforms. Sheldon greeted them as he got closer, “Hello, hello! Sorry for the wait!”

Cap'n laughed in return, “‘Tis no problem Sheldon. I’m sure we’re all tired after the octo attack last night.”

Sheldon could see that they were both dressed casually, with Cap'n in his usual rags, and Etta sporting a new dark red hoodie. Though, as he looked a little closer he saw that she did have her ink tank on, filled with green ink. When Etta saw him look at her, she gave a small wave.

They didn’t sit around for long, and Etta and Sheldon both followed Cap'n up a few blocks to where the next kettles would be found.

The next area was a far larger and more spread out than the last sector. It would probably take a bit of work to find all the kettles here.

Once they all arrived, Cap'n turned to Etta and started to explain how they unlocked and modified the kettles.

“Sheldon did this in the last sector before you became an agent. What we do here is uncover the abandoned kettles usin’ ink”, As he said this he made a sweeping motion across the sector with his cane. “Then Sheldon here works his magic and redirects the kettles toward the octo bases that hold the zapfish captive. Once we have enough zapfish outta there, we can use the big boss kettle to get to deeper parts and finish off the sector.” 

Cap'n then turned to point his cane at Etta.

“Yer part in this is to cover this whole sector with ink, an’ find as many kettles as you can!”

Etta didn’t need to be told twice. She nodded and dashed off, firing her hero shot every which way. It only took her a few seconds to find her first kettle in a large dip in the platform. She called them over and Sheldon took out what was needed to program the kettle.

First, he took out his portable computer. Then, he brought out three cables and connected one between the kettle and his computer. Lastly, he took out a sleepy little mini zapfish, and connected it’s whiskers to the kettle.

“Okay, so what I do is simply change where this kettle takes you. I’ve already managed to isolate a few bases where we’ve detected zapfish. I use this mini zapfish I brought with me to give me the burst of power I need to make sure the change goes through.”

Etta nodded her head then asked, “Why do we need many kettles? Can we use only one?”

“Heh! I thought you might ask that!”, Sheldon laughed then answered, “Doing this sort of… locks them into one place. We can’t change where they go once I do this. They do reset after like, a year, but obviously we can’t wait that long.”

As he said this, he typed away at his computer, inputting and adjusting the coordinates. His fingers flew across the keys while Cap’n and Etta watched on.

After just under a minute, Sheldon hit the last key needed and stood up. “Ok! Now comes the cool part!”

Sheldon turned to the mini zapfish and patted the tiny catfish’s head, “Alright little guy, do your thing! Etta you might wanna step back.”

The mini zapfish gave a small cheer and let out a burst of electricity through it’s whickers toward the kettle. The handle of the kettle began to rattle against the body as steam rose from the spout. With the steam came a whistling sound that grew in volume.

When Sheldon glanced back at the two inklings, Etta had stepped back quite a bit and had her arms raised slightly, looking concerned. Cap’n was busy looking around the sector for possible hidden kettles, having seen Sheldon work before.

Sheldon looked back at the kettles just in time for the shaking, steaming, and whistling to come to an abrupt halt. From within the kettle echoed a sound like an old, squeaky cellar door being opened. There was a loud _clang!_ , and then the kettle was silent.

“And there we go!” Sheldon turned back to the inklings, “One unlocked kettle!”

-

They managed to convince Etta not to hop straight into the kettle and instead continue the search across the sector. 

After a good 30 minutes of searching, they managed to find three more kettles, bringing the total number of kettles to four regular, and one boss. Not bad.

Sheldon only had two more based that he’d found, and the mini zapfish was getting tired anyway. 

They walked back to the cabin, where they discussed the next steps.

“So I’ll come back in a day or two, when I can get the time off. I’ll program the boss kettle too, so it’ll unlock as soon as we have enough zapfish.”

“Sounds good Sheldon. Once again, thanks fer yer help. The Splatoon’d be nothin’ without you.”

Sheldon fought back a blush at the praise, “Heheh… it’s nothing Cap’n. I’m always happy to help the Splatoon!”

Cap’n chuckled at him and gave him a pat on the head, “Don’t be shy now! Even if you can’t get too involved, yer a vital member of this here team! Don’t ferget that!”

This time Sheldon couldn’t fight back the embarrassed blush. He looked away, over to where Etta was standing to the side, tapping away at her agent phone. Seeing a distraction he changed the topic, “Hey Etta!”

“Huh?”, She looked up from her phone at the sound of her name.

“Did Agent 2 contact you yet? I told her to wait a while before trying to, just in case you wanted to sleep in after the invasion last night.”

“Ah, yes. I am talking to Agent 1 now. Agent 2 did not wake me”

Oh good. “Just wanted to make sure!”

Sheldon looked at the sky, now darker than when he’d first arrived. 

“I’d better get going soon. I’ll hopefully see you guys soon!”, he said.

“Again, thanks fer yer work Sheldon. We won’t keep you here any longer.”

Etta waved to him as he turned to go, “Goodbye. Thank you fer your help.”

-

**7:53 pm: Henrietta3 is now online!**

**Henrietta3 messaged“Agent Chat” Thursday 7:55 pm:**

**Henrietta3:** sheldon was here

 **Henrietta3:** he opened 4 kettles

 **Henrietta3:** he used a small zapfish

**7:59 pm: Henrietta3 is now offline!**

**9:37 pm: Agent 1 is now online!**

**Agent 1:** told you it was cool

**9:39 pm: Henrietta3 is now online!**

**Henrietta3:** it is good

 **Agent 1:** it sure is!

 **Agent 1:** just wanted to make sure you knew that

 **Agent 1:** 2 is busy with some more work rn 

**Agent 1:** and ive got work to do too

 **Agent 1:** ill talk more tomorrow if i get the time

 **Agent 1:** bye!

**9:43 pm: Agent 1 is now offline!**

**Henrietta3:** see ya

**9:45 pm: Henrietta3 is now offline!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! It's been a while!
> 
> I moved back to university and couldn't take Tales of Symphonia with me so I was obsessively playing it non-stop right up until I left. Which left no time for fic. But here I am!
> 
> This chapter consists of character interaction, headcanon, and my death struggle with html. The agents are able to talk even if they haven't met yet! The Squid Sisters are a little less cold to Etta now that they've been impressed.
> 
> Sheldon mentally refers to Cap'n as, well, Cap'n. He's a lot more familiar and less formal with Cap'n, so there's a lot less "the captain said this", "the captain did that". Just a little detail that I had to constantly remind myself of as I was writing.
> 
> For those of you who noticed, yes, the kettle count in sector 2 is off. We've already done one mission from it, so which mission is missing? Take a wild guess. I'm sure you can figure it out. Here an unneeded hint: the mission isn't in Octo Valley.
> 
> Even if there's not much plot, I hope that this chapter was at least somewhat worth the wait. Leave a comment! Visit me on tumblr! Seeing that people like this really helps motivate me to write more!


	14. Chapter 14

“Agent 3, I hope yer not afraid of heights! The zapfish is at the top of that gusher!”

Agent 3 didn’t even pause before riding the gusher upwards, landing on another grated platform. She took out a few octopods with a gusher and some clever timing. Those gusher sure were helpful!

“The zapfish is nearby! Just up that gusher!”

Just a minute or two later had all the remaining octarians fleeing the base as fast as they could, metaphorical tails between their legs.

Etta returned triumphant, carrying the zapfish over her head, the squeaky laughter of the small catfish echoing in the noon air. The captain went to greet her when she came back through the kettle.

“Well Etta, I’d say yer free fer the rest of the day. We don’t need to run as many missions now that some zapfish are back. If you go back to Inkopolis today, take that zapfish over to Sheldon would you?”

Etta cheered and ran to the cabin to change out of her hero outfit.

-

“Quintin, do you seriously think we’re gonna find another team member just wandering around the plaza? I’m tired of walking! Just make a post online so we don’t waste more time out here.”

Quintin didn’t even look back at Grella’s complaining. He just kept on walking around the crowded square, scouting around for his “perfect team member”. 

“Come on Grella”, came Haine’s voice from her left, “We should let him at least look around. If he finds a team member, great! They’re probably be better than whoever we find online! If he doesn’t, then we get free reign on choices!”

Jeez, how could Haine stay so positive? It was annoying having to look for a fourth team member, but if they wanted get into some more serious turf matches then they needed a consistent fourth player.

Of course Quintin, the youngest of their trio, with all his illusions of grandeur wanted their new team member to be perfect. He was always going on about _fate_ , and _destiny_ , and how he would _know them when he saw them_ , which sounded like a bunch of crap to Grella. They just needed someone who was interesting in serious turf, was good enough at it, and who meshed well with their little group. They didn’t need some kind of “fateful meeting” or anything of the sort. Though even Grella would (begrudgingly) admit that Quintin’s enthusiasm was slightly contagious.

Only for the first three or so days though. After the fifth day it was getting a little annoying.

“Today is the day! I can feel it Grella! We’ll find the perfect team member who will help us become the strongest of the strong!”

“Haha, alright Quintin”, Haine laughed.

It was only a little past noon, and at this rate Grella had a long day ahead of her. She looked at the sky, partially blocked out by the tall buildings of their metropolis, and listened to the sounds around her. 

The chatter of two inklings on a date, a jellyfish tapping away at his phone, the rustle of leaves in the September breeze. Ahead of her, Quintin untied and retied his hair in his signature high ponytail. Haine adjusted the cuffs on that lumberjack shirt he loved so much.

Their little group passed by Booyah Base for the fifth time. Grella absently noted that a yellow inkling girl in a gray hoodie was walking out of Ammo Knights, before Quintin suddenly took off at a sprint towards the girl. 

“Wha-Quintin! Get back here!”, Haine yelled at him before Grella was even able to fully acknowledge what happened.

They both jogged to catch up to the excitable inkling. Grella was only barely able to understand what he was saying from how fast he was speaking to the poor girl.

“-re gonna play the serious turf matches and I’ve watched a bunch of your games this week and they’re so good and you would be great here ‘cause we need someone who uses a shooter so please join our team!”, he ended his monologue with a short bow to the bewildered girl and nearly knocked his glasses off his head.

When all he got was a blank look, Grella decided that she should butt in, “What my friend here wants to know is if you want to join our turf team. We’ve been looking for a fourth member for a while now.”

The girl looked at Grella for a second, then looked around her, apparently not convinced that they were talking to her. Finally she stopped, looked at Grella, pointed to herself, and spoke, “You want me fer your team?”

Haha, wow. You didn’t hear an accent like that every day. Grella was so surprised by the way the girl sounded that she forgot what she was gonna say next.

Luckily Haine, always so smart, picked up the slack for her, “Yeah. I remember some of your games too. You’re really good with a splattershot! We could use someone like you on our team.”

Now the girl looked slightly nervous. “I am busy most of the day. I do not know if I can.”

Quintin was starting to look disappointed. Shit. Time for damage control. 

Haine took the lead again, “Hey, we can work with your hours! We’re free pretty much all the time.”

Grella put her suggestion in, “How about you play a game or two with us? We can see if we all work well together. And if we do, then we can all exchange contact info and work out some timetables later? You are free right now, right?”

“I am free. I can play some games.”

Quintin butted in before the girl could speak any more, “Wait wait! We need to introduce ourselves! I’m Quintin!”, he gestured at Grella and Haine, “And these cool catfish are Grella and Haine! Now you gotta tell us your name!”

The girl finally smiled, and with a giggle, introduced herself.

-

 _Holy shit_ Etta was fast!

She was sprinting through the dark blue enemy ink like it wasn’t there! The enemy inkling didn’t even have time to ready his roller for a hit before she spatted him back to base. All that left Grella with plenty of time to paint every corner of the Kelp dome orange with her roller.

She laughed when she saw Quintin snipe another girl with his charger. This was actually fun! 

Watching Etta dodging all the shots from the opposing team made Grella feel like she was watching a spy movie where Etta was a secret agent. At least until she tripped and landed face first onto a splat bomb.

Still, their team handley won the match, with 71.3% turf coverage. In the next match, they got 78.9%! It was mostly because of how aggressively Etta played, running straight toward (and intimidating the hell out of) their opponents. Etta herself didn’t actually manage to cover much turf.

After the two games they played, they were all laughing and grinning, even Haine. 

Haine even decided to treat all of them to a late lunch at a small restaurant a little ways away from from the square. It was that tiny place that Haine was always saying made the “Best Noodles on the Planet!”. 

Grella used one of her extra elastics to help Etta tie her hair up so it wouldn’t fall into the noodles and they all dug into their food like the teenagers they were, conversation halting as they savoured the taste of the noodles. _Holy shit were they so good_. 

When they started to slow their eating, Etta agreed to exchange numbers.

“I am busy in mornings. I can play in afternoon sometimes.”

“Oof, morning jobs suck”, Quintin spoke through a mouthful of noodles, glasses full of fog from the steam, “I worked the morning shift at a convenience store back home for a while. Where do you work? Arowana?”

Etta shook her head in reply, attention back on her food, already eating again.

Grella took this moment to chime in, “Well I work at the Museum d'Alfonsino. I really just make sure no one climbs on the sculpture, and I only work a few days a week. It’s pretty sweet job.”

“As for me, I’m working at the Shrimp Skewer. It’s near Flounder Heights, and I’m an amazing cook there”, Haine boasted, “I’ve eaten as most of the restaurants in the area, so I can tell you which ones are the best.”

Grella bumped Haine with her elbow and laughed, “Normally this is where I’d make fun of you for saying that but that’s actually true. You always pick the best places to eat!”

Quintin slapped his hand on the table to get everyone’s attention, “I am so excited to get to play turf with a team like this!”, he looked at everyone and his eyes turned watery for a second, “Thank you guys _so much_.” 

“Oh gross, don’t cry on me!”, Grella laughed and gave Quintin and small shove, “But I am glad I was here today. This was actually fun and I’m glad you’re part of the team now Etta.”

At the sound of her name, Etta gave a ‘Mff!’, from her bowl of noodles.

“By the way, what’s that accent?”, Grella asked, “I’ve never heard it before.”

“Um…”, Etta looked slightly uncomfortable, “It is my language. I have only... speaked, I mean spoke, inkling for two months. There are no inklings where my home is.”

Haine raised his eyebrows, “Woah, really? I haven’t heard of many places without any inklings. But I’m a chef, not a geographer.”

“Actually it’d be a population geographer who would know that.”

“As I said Grella, I’m a chef.”

-

They eventually finished their food and left the restaurant. The four of them spent the rest of the day joking around and playing more turf. They won most of their matches, which was fun. They shared tips and tricks that they’d learned from their weapons with Etta, and she tried some of them out for a few games. 

Turns out that she had really bad aim with chargers!

All in all it was one of the most fun days Grella had had in a while. She was glad that she’d come today, and she was glad that she had Haine and Quintin and now Etta as friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to me! I'm 20!
> 
> I've been procrastinating so long on this, so I hope it's somewhat worth the wait.
> 
> Meet Grella (16), Haine(16), and Quintin(14), who's names I made up on the spot! I wanted to put them in to give Etta some social contact outside the splatoon. They're going to be our window to the world outside of being an agent or an idol. Besides, Etta's gonna need a splatfest team!
> 
> They got close to some sensitive questions for a moment there, but in true teenager fashion, distracted themselves and forgot about them.
> 
> If you enjoyed this chapter and like this story, leave a comment or talk to me on tumblr!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit: Changed the day of the week**

**3:04 pm: Agent 1 is now online!**

**Agent 1 messaged “Agent Chat” Friday 3:04 pm:**

**Agent 1:** hey etta anything cool going on

 **Agent 1:** 2 and i are on our way back to inkopolis rn and its a pretty boring plane ride

 **Agent 1:** shes asleep lol

 **Agent 1:** sucks to be out of the city for so long

**5:12 pm: Henrietta3 is now online!**

**Henrietta3:** i am in a team now

 **Agent 1:** a team

 **Agent 1:** like a ranked team???

 **Henrietta3:** we played turf war

 **Agent 1:** oh just a turf team

 **Agent 1:** i havent known you long or anything but you dont strike me as the squad battle type

 **Agent 1:** so 

**Agent 1:** what are they like?

 **Agent 1:** what weapons do they main?

 **Agent 1:** are they any good?

 **Agent 1:** are they fresh???

 **Henrietta3:** they are nice

 **Henrietta3:** they have a roller a charger and a blaster

 **Agent 1:** nice variety

 **Henrietta3:** it is fun to play with them

 **Agent 1:** you gonna team with them for the next splatfest

 **Agent 1:** the themes gonna be announced soon

 **Henrietta3:** what is splatfest

 **Agent 1:** what

 **Agent 1:** i

 **Agent 1:** what

**5:19 pm: Agent 1 is now offline!**

**Henrietta3:** agent 1 ?

-

They were eating dinner at an all day breakfast place (another hit courtesy of Haine). Grella was so busy drowning her eggs in hot sauce that she almost didn’t hear Etta’s question. 

When she finally registered what the girl had said, she assumed she’d heard wrong because what. Then she was too busy choking on her food in surprise to even think of responding.

“ _What do you mean ‘what’s splatfest’!?_ ” Quintin exclaimed, thankfully not loud enough to catch the attention of the restaurant, “How can _any_ inkling not know!?”

“Um?” was all Etta could say, her expression confused and somewhat frightened, as she leaned away from Quintin as much as the booth they were in would allow her to.

Quintin looked like he was gearing up to yell again, so Grella gave him a shove to make him quiet down. There was still too much food in her mouth to speak, so she gave a pointed look at Haine.

Even Haine was looking slightly shaken by Etta’s question, so it took him a moment to get the hint that he was supposed to say something.

“Uh…” He fumbled, “Do you really not know what a splatfest is?”

Etta hummed, took a bite of a piece of buttered toast, chewed, and swallowed. Then she crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes slightly at everyone at the table, and spoke hesitantly, “No?”

Having finally finished swallowing her food. Grella responded, “It’s only the most important festival of inkling culture!” she paused to cough, “You said you’ve been in Inkopolis for two months! How can you not know!”

“The splatfests last all night, and a bunch of bands play live music in the plaza the entire time. Obviously the Squid Sisters are the most anticipated. Splatfests are pretty much the only way that most people will get to see them live. ‘Cause of how hard it is to get tickets to their concerts.” Haine explained, “Personally, I’m excited about seeing Squid Squad. There’s no confirmation yet, but there’s been rumors that they’re gonna perform this splatfest.”

“Hey we should probably like, explain what a splatfest is first.” Quintin interrupted, before starting to eat more waffle. 

“Oh yeah, good point.” 

“So, I’ll start”, Grella said, “So the turf wars first began as a formal sport sometime after that big war that happened like, a hundred years ago or something. Eventually some people decided that a big festival would be fun. There was the idea to form two teams based on which of two choices you like best, and duke it out with the other side to find out which was _actually_ the best. People would dress up for their team, and there’d be a big party and stuff. Lots of music and food, y’know.

“At that same time, archeologists dug up some ancient machine that would sometimes spit out something that could be used as a theme. Everyone decided that using that machine to choose a theme was way cooler that thinking of one themselves, so they switched to using the machine exclusively.

“They used to just call it the festival, but a some point some guys just started calling it splatfest and the name stuck. It also used to be something that was only in Inkopolis, but in the last couple years some other bigger cities have started running their own splatfests. Though Inkopolis is still the place to be for the best food and music.”

“Grella, how do you even know that much?”

“I work at a museum, Haine.”

“An art museum.”

“Hey! There’s history in the artwork!”

Quintin swallowed the last mouthful of his waffle and looked at Etta, who had yet to say anything about the explanation, “Yeah, so, Grella covered pretty much everything important about splatfests. Any questions?”

Etta _hmm_ ed and tapped her fork against her mouth, “Who is archeologists?”

Her question got Grella’s attention back from Haine, who takes his chance to work on his waffles, and Grella snorted slightly, “Archeology is a job. They dig up ancient stuff for a living. Like old ruins and human bones.”

This time Quintin snorted, “It’s not like it _that_ hard to find human bones though. Dig in anyone’s backyard and you’ll probably find some.”

Grella huffed and crossed her arms. “Okay so maybe using human bones wasn’t the best example! They dig up old ruins and ancient _fossils_ and stuff.” 

“What is humans? I do not know that word.”

Haine stopped eating, “You’ve probably got a different word for them. They’re those things that came before us inklings. They had bones and stuff, and people think they were the ones who built stuff like the big pyramids on the other side of the world.”

“Oh. Humans.” Etta made a strange expression. One that went away too quickly for Grella to figure out what it meant. “Yes. I do know them.”

Quintin didn’t look like he noticed the strange expression, but a quick glance at Haine’s face told her that’d he’d seen it too.

Either way, Quintin was talking, “So you really haven’t heard of splatfests? Not like, you didn’t know the word, but you’ve really never heard of them?”

“No, I do not know splatfest. I think it sounds fun!”

Quintin grinned and looked at Haine and Grella, “You guys know what this means, right?” when he got two shrugs in return, he continued, “It means we’ll get to be with Etta for her first splatfest!”

 _Holy shit that’s true_ Grella thought, before speaking, “There’s supposed to be a splatfest soon too right? The Squid Sisters were gonna announce the theme today when they got back from Shell City.”

“Hey, if we’re all on the same team then we can kick butt!”

“Quintin, that’s only if we’re on the same team.”

“Don’t spoil my dreams Haine.”

“Guys, guys,” Grella interrupted, “We’ll see how the teams work out when we choose. But yeah, the theme announcement is actually supposed to be in an hour or so. Let’s finish our food, maybe play a match or two if we have time, them we can watch the announcement in the plaza.”

-

**6:18 pm: Agent 2 is now online!**

**Agent 2:** hey 3 you out there?

 **Agent 2:** 1 frantically woke me up and told me you don’t know what a splatfest is

**6:18 pm: Agent 1 is now online!**

**Agent 1:** sorry to drop out on ya like that but we had some work dropped on us

 **Agent 1:** anyway weve landed now

 **Agent 1:** but on the subject of splatfests

 **Agent 1:** the next themes gonna be announced in a few minutes

 **Agent 2:** watch for it in the plaza

 **Agent 2:** also im gonna try to drop by the valley tonight

 **Agent 1:** ive got some stuff to do so i cant visit but ill try and get down there some time soon

 **Agent 1:** we still havent met in person so we gotta get to that

 **Agent 1:** also i gotta tell you what a splatfest actually is!

**6:22 pm: Henrietta3 is now online!**

**Henrietta3:** i know what splatfest is now

 **Agent 1:** whaaat

 **Agent 1:** i wanted to explain it to you :(

 **Henrietta3:** i asked my teammates

 **Agent 2:** lol you missed your chance

 **Agent 2:** but we gotta gotta get going soon 1

 **Agent 1:** right

 **Agent 1:** im pretty much ready so ill meet you there

 **Agent 1:** bye 3!!! Hopefully ill get to meet you soon!

**6:26 pm: Agent 1 is now offline!**

**Agent 2:** see you soon 3

**6:26 pm: Agent 2 is now offline!**

**Henrietta3:** bye

**6:27 pm: Henrietta3 is now offline!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished this chapter! University's been beating my ass lol.
> 
> But we're on Etta first splatfest soon! Now she knows what those are finally!
> 
> Also she was acting kinda weird at the mention of humans. What's with that? Eh, it's probably nothing...
> 
> Thanks to those who've left comments and kudos! I hope you all enjoy this chapter that I haven't really proofread!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit: Changed the day of the week**

Marie finished her work with the news station, changed into her casual clothes, grabbed a small bag of stuff she needed, and was on her way to Octo Valley before 7.

When she checked her phone Etta had still been offline, probably busy hanging out with her new team. Absently, she wondered what team Etta’d be on. 

Between Callie and Marie, it was obvious who’d pick which team. Science was wayyy cooler than art! Science was what gave Callie that phone that she used to bother Marie! It was what gave them the plane they had been flying in not two hours earlier! It gave them the cameras that were used to broadcast their news show!

Plus science could be used to blow things up, which was way better plain old art.

She wouldn’t say all of that out loud though, because then she’d have Callie going “ _But Marie! We’re artists! Music artists! Blah blah expression blah blah super cool blah blah music!_ ” and she’d have to concede at least part of the argument.

Though Callie wouldn’t bring that up unless she wanted to admit that science explosions were, in fact, super cool.

Marie thought about this as she weaved her way over to the entrance to the valley.

She loved being a pop idol, but it really made getting around without being swarmed by adoring fans very difficult. She had to put on her hood and facemask, and keep her head down to stay unnoticed. Eventually she made it to the manhole and entered the valley.

She looked around her at the floating platforms and the open kettle just ahead of her, when she heard a voice call to her.

“Hoy there Agent 2!”

“Grandpa!” Marie hopped over and gave him a hug, “It’s been a while! Callie said she’s sorry she couldn’t come.”

Grandpa hugged her back and laughed, “I’m sure she’ll want to come see me as soon as she can. I can be patient.”

“Well, our manager’s giving us a little more time off than usual before the next splatfest. If we’re lucky, we might even get to help with a mission or two.”

Grandpa let go of her and pat her on the back, “Agent 3 is usually be back by 8. Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“I had some plane food but I didn’t really have the time for a full meal. If you have the ingredients, do you think you could make…”

“Crabby cakes?”

“Yes!”

-

“It’s a good thing you’ve found as many zapfish as you have” Marie said as she cut up some of the meat for the meal, “The council was worried that there wouldn’t be enough power for a splatfest without the great zapfish. There’s lots of stored energy left, but splatfests do use a lot of resources. They’re gonna move a couple zapfish from the kelp dome just for the night since that place already has so many. The zapfish that’ve been recovered are really helping though.”

“Agent 3 has been hard at work after all”, Grandpa replied, busy mixing up his secret recipe for the batter. 

Marie stopped her work for a moment, “Oh yeah, about her. Did you know that she didn’t know what a splatfest is? Callie mentioned it and she had no idea.”

Grandpa stopped his work too, “Hmm… that’s surprising. But Agent 3 is a strange one. She didn’t grow up around any inklings and was never around Inkopolis, how would she know about it? It took ‘til I moved back here from Calamari County to even learn about the turf wars you kids are into these days.”

Marie sighed and went back to work, “Well it’ll be nice to actually meet her in person. She isn’t exactly the best at texting.”

“Heh! She’s still not the best at speakin’. But she’s gotten better. An’ I think hangin’ around her new friends’ll help with that.” Grandpa laughed.

They finished preparing the ingredients and Marie turned on the stove and heated up the oil. She let grandpa do the most of the actual cooking because no matter how hard she tried, her technique could never beat grandpa’s. 

Once they were done cooking, grandpa handed her a plate of the delicious fried creations. She had to resist digging in immediately, waiting for them to cool enough to avoid burning her mouth like usual.

Marie (im)patiently counted the seconds until she could stuff her face. She bit down into the warm, greasy, crispy, delicious, tasty, wonderful crabby cake, savouring the flavour as much as she could.

Together, they ate most of the crabby cakes, though they left a few in the fridge in case Agent 3 came back and wanted them.

Marie took a shower and removed the makeup that she always wore for broadcasts. She changed into the pyjamas (a big onesie made to look like Judd. It also doubled as a quick costume for parties) that she kept at the cabin, got her laptop from her bag to do some more work while she waited for Etta to arrive, and tapped away at the keys, reviewing and revising the schedules and scripts that had been sent her way. Callie was currently handling most of them, so she didn’t need to do much more than watch for mistakes.

Grandpa went to bed early so that he’d be awake earlier than any sensible inkling, like usual. For missions, he always made sure to wake up early to get a head start on planning the best route to the zapfish.

Marie got a bit of work done but ended up mostly zoning out, so it startled her when her phone made a noise out of nowhere. She checked the device and frowned when she realized how late it was before she actually looked at the message.

  


**Henrietta3 messaged Agent 2 Friday 10:04 pm:**

**Henrietta3:** are you in the octp valley

 **Agent 2:** yeah i got here a while ago

 **Agent 2:** its pretty late

 **Agent 2:** you coming back soon or did you get lost

 **Henrietta3:** yes

 **Agent 2:** yes?

 **Agent 2:** youre coming back or youre lost?

 **Henrietta3:** lost

 **Agent 2:** oh

 

Oh damn. Marie had been joking but she almost felt bad now.

 

 **Agent 2:** uh

 **Agent 2:** how lost?

 **Henrietta3:** i enterd the wrong plce to octo valley

 **Agent 2:** like you used the wrong entrance?

 **Henretta3:** yes i think

 **Agent 2:** ok you might be in one of the other octo places

 **Agent 2:** maybe octo canyon or octo chasm

 **Agent 2:** the entrances to those are both near the valley one

 **Agent 2:** can you try to describe the area around you?

 **Henrietta3:** ther is a cabin i think and rocks

 **Henrietta3:** the cabin is small ad no one is in

 **Agent 2:** yeah youre in octo canyon

 **Agent 2:** stay where you are and ill be there in a few minutes

 

Ugh, she’d have to get out of her comfy pyjamas and back into actual clothes. She sighed, closing her laptop and ignoring the _ding_ of another text from Etta. 

Marie changed back into the clothes that she’d worn earlier (she’d only been wearing them for like 2 hours, they weren’t gross yet) and donned her face mask. After a moment’s more thought, she pulled her hood over her head too. It was late, but there was still a chance someone would recognize her and she didn’t want to get held up.

She grabbed her phone off the table and checked it one more time just before she headed out. 

 

 **Henrietta3:** please hury i do not like dark

 

Now Marie _actually_ felt a little bad for Etta. Octo Canyon wouldn’t take too long to get to from where she was either way, but as Marie read the text again she decided that she’d put in the effort to get there as fast as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, hasn't it?
> 
> Marie goes to see Cap'n and stuffs her face with crabby cakes. Etta gets lost somehow.
> 
> I wanted to write the actual Meeting this chapter but it was already taking so long to write. They'll meet next chapter! Which will hopefully be completed faster than this one was!
> 
> Thanks to those who left kudos and comments to let me know they liked this! It's good to know people are reading and enjoying my story, and I'm not posting into the void.


	17. Chapter 17

Marie was lucky. She’d arrived just in time to catch one of the last trains over to the square, and didn’t have to take the time to walk over. Most of the people she encountered were people going home from late shifts and inklings who’d stayed out late playing turf. Both categories were too tired to spend much time looking at who was on the train, so no one came close to recognizing her.

The train ride made the 20 minute walk (15 at a run) take just over 5 minutes. When the train arrived at the square, Marie got off the train and shot off a quick text to Etta, letting her know that she was almost there, then pocketed her phone and set off for the hidden entrance to the canyon. 

Ugh, Inkopolis Square was definitely not the best place to be at night. The pavement was old and cracked (though it had held up pretty well considering it’d been a ridiculous amount of time since it’d been replaced. It was one of those old sections of the city that were built to last), and there was definitely some shady stuff going on in the shadows. Modded ink weapons, suspiciously well-paid jobs, etc.

There was talk of developing the area sometime soon. It’d be nice to see the place get fixed up a bit. Fix up the roads and put a few shops in and it’d be a great place to meet for turf.

Marie shook those thoughts out of her head. _Focus_. 

The entrance to Octo Canyon was near one of those shady job buildings, which was luckily closed at the moment. Marie didn’t have time to deal with someone trying to offer her some weird job, while making sure she wasn’t recognized.

It was pretty dark, and Marie almost walked past the manhole. It had only taken about 4 minutes to dash over from the train station. Standing next to the entrance, Marie checked her phone, saw that Etta still hadn’t responded to her last text, and pocketed the device again, not wanting to waste more time by responding.

Marie jumped into the manhole.

She swam through the pipes quickly, and popped up silently in the Tentakeel Outpost. As she scanned the area for Etta, she had the passing thought that she’d never been in the canyon when it was dark.

She walked up near the cabin and got her phone out to text Etta and called out, “Hey! Anyone around!”

“GAH!”

Snapping her head around at the sound of a shriek, Marie saw a silhouette standing in the dark doorway of the cabin holding what looked like a bat, ready to strike.

“AH WHAT THE FUCK!”

In response to Marie’s scream, the figure shrieked again and dropped the bat, jumping to hide behind the door frame. It took a few moments for Marie to find her voice again.

“Uh. _Please_ tell me you’re Etta.”

A head peeked out the side of the door, “Um, yes? You are Agent 2?”

Marie’s hearts were still calming down from that scare, so she simply nodded in reply and hoped that Etta would see it. 

Etta was mumbling incomprehensibly to herself, still standing in the doorway. Whatever she was mumbling sounded like it was definitely not any language that Marie was familiar with. It was made of weird, sharp sounds. It sounded difficult to speak too, though that might have been from how fast Etta was talking. It was almost like she was trying to make sounds that her vocal chords weren’t meant to make. If asked, Marie would definitely not be able to copy those sounds.

Okay, Marie was starting to get tired of standing around in the dark.

“You wanna like, get going soon?”

Etta nodded and gave a quiet “Yes.”

They both stood there for several more seconds before Marie broke the silence, “Just. Uh. Follow me I guess.”

“Yes.”

Oh cod this was so awkward.

Marie turned and started walking back to the manhole. After a few steps she could hear Etta start to follow.

“Um…”

At Etta’s voice Marie slowed down and glanced back, “What is it?”

It was still too dark to really see anything but the slight glow of Etta’s tentacles, but it looked like Etta was wringing her hands together. She did that for a moment before asking, “Why is the cabin also here?”

“Oh, yeah that probably had you pretty confused, huh?”, Marie stopped completely and turned all the way around to wave her hand in the direction of the cabin. “When Cap’n moved over here from Calamari County a few years back, Agent 1 and I built a bunch of these things at the different octo places. Like Octo Valley, and Octo Chasm and whatnot. They’re just small places to stay while monitoring octo activity. ‘Cept Cap’n decided to actually live in the one in the valley so we ended up building that one up a lot more than the others.”

“Ah, ok.”

“So, uh”, Marie said as she started walking again, “What was up with the bat? Were you planning on using it or something?”

“Oh. Um, I do not know?” Came the stilted reply, “I grabbed it because, I do not like the dark.”

“Oh, ok”, Marie replied, just before knocking her foot _painfully_ right into the edge of the manhole because she wasn’t really focusing very well after having been scared senseless by a _bat-wielding inkling_.

“Ow, fuck!”

“Ah! You are okay?” Etta’s concerned voice came from just to the left of Marie.

Wiggling her foot, Marie grumbled, “Yeah. Just. Today is apparently not my day after all.” Then jumped into the manhole.

-

Marie stepped out of the manhole first and waited a few seconds for Etta to emerge. When the splash of green ink settled, she got her first real look at the new Agent 3.

Etta was slightly shorter than Marie. Her hair was almost as long as Callie’s, though not as well kept. From how long the tentacles at the back of her head were, it looked as if she hadn’t gotten a proper trim in a good while. It made her look a little scruffy to be honest. She was wearing long pants, a Forge parka (which was probably a good thing considering how cold the nights were starting to get), and... red rain boots? For some reason. 

She also smelled like sweat.

Badly.

“Ok, no offence but you _need_ a shower, asap.”

Etta looked confused, then took a whiff of herself and scrunched up her face, “Oh.”

“Yeah. The next train’s not gonna be here for a good while so we’re gonna have to walk back.” Marie said, then started walking. Etta kept up just to the right of her. 

“Ok.”

There were even fewer people than when Marie had first come through. The two agents walked through the streets. Marie tried to make sure they stayed within the reach of the light that bled off the streetlamps and stores. They were silent until Etta voice broke through the air.

“Agent 2?”

“Huh? What is it?” Marie slowed down slightly to respond, while keeping a eye out for things she could conceivably stub her foot on. “Also, when we aren’t on missions and stuff you don’t needed to call me by my agent name. Just call me Marie.”

“Oh ok. Marie?”

“Yeah?”

“What is fuck? I do not know the word.”

Oh _carp_.

Marie stopped and grabbed Etta by the shoulders, looking her in the eye, “Listen. It’s a bad word and you _cannot_ let anyone know that I taught it to you.”

Wide eyes stared back at her, “It is a bad word?”

Shaking Etta slightly, Marie answered, “Yes.”

And to Marie’s horror, Etta gave back the most sinister smirk that she’d ever seen in her life (including that one time Callie tricked her into eating pineapple pizza by saying that the pineapple was a new and delicious topping, _it isn’t pineapple it just_ looks _like pineapple_ ) and said. One. Word.

“ _Fuck_.”

-

Ok it wasn’t _that_ bad.

Etta turned out to actually be pretty cool, if more than a little weird. 

She’d promised not to tell grandpa that Marie has taught her a swear word if, and only if, Marie taught her more. And then once she’d taught Etta as many swears as she could handle, Etta taught Marie various curse words from her language. 

Most were really hard to pronounce but it was definitely fun knowing how to curse someone out in a language no one would understand. 

They settled into easy conversation as they walked, and Marie got to hear more of Etta’s accent. Marie corrected some of Etta’s grammar every now and then, and corrected some of her awkward phrasing. Overall, Etta’s language skills weren’t nearly as bad as she thought they’d be based on what grandpa had said. But then he’d also said that she’d improved a lot. 

Apparently the reason why Etta had gotten lost was because she went to a friend’s place to hang out after the splatfest announcement (Etta and her friends were gonna choose their sides tomorrow). They played games and ate some food made by one of her teammates and the time got away from her. Etta got off at the wrong train stop and, freaked out by how dark it was, used the wrong entrance.

Soon they were standing at the entrance to the valley. 

“Ok remember, do _not_ let _anyone_ know that I taught you how to curse. If anyone asks, you learned it on your own.”

“Heh, okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fast update this time! Also I changed the rating to T for language.
> 
> I've had that scene where Marie accidentally teaches Etta how to curse for so long now. It was actually one of the first clear interactions I had planned. Now Etta can be rude. 
> 
> Also, I've officially written 20 000 words! Wow! That's more than I wrote for the entirety of english in all of high school! (I wasn't a great english student)
> 
> I was gonna leave it off at Etta saying fuck but I had a little more already written and this way I can transition into the next bit a little easier.
> 
> Thanks again to those who commented and kudos'd my fic!


	18. Chapter 18

Waking up kind of sucked. Especially cause Marie had fallen asleep on the old couch against the wall in the guest room-turned Etta’s room. Etta had tried to insist that Marie sleep on the bed but Marie felt weird about stealing the bed from Etta, even if it was only for one night.

Ugh. It was still early too.

She regretted her decision a little bit now as she stretched her sore back. When she looked back at the bed she saw that Etta was still sound asleep. 

Marie quickly and quietly changed out of her pyjamas and into the spare outfit that she kept at the cabin. Glancing back to make sure Etta was still dead to the world, she crept into the kitchen, intent on finding some food.

As she looked through the cupboards and fridge (settling on leftover crabby cakes and some preserved salmon jerky she found), she noticed that Cap’n wasn’t around. After looking around the cabin and not spotting him anywhere, she sighed and went outside to see where he was. She could hear voices nearby pretty much as soon as she opened the door, so she didn’t actually have to look very much. 

Grandpa and Sheldon were talking a little ways away near one of the open kettles. They hadn’t noticed her yet, and as Marie walked closer, she heard little snippets of their conversation.

“I mean, I’ve been trying to find a way into the boss kettle, but I still haven’t come up with anything. I think I need more zapfish.”

“Hmm. An’ even if we get all the zapfish from the kettles you opened, it won’t be enough?”

“By my calculations, we’ll be exactly one zapfish short. If it really comes down to it, I might be able to borrow another zapfish from the city, but-”

Marie interrupted “Hey, what’re you guys talking about?”

Sheldon jumped slightly at her call. “Oh! Marie! You’re awake!”

“Yep. With a sore back too. So what’s going on over here?”

Grandpa tapped his cane on the rim of the kettle and sighed, “Sheldon’s been tryin’ to find another zapfish base but the Octarians’ve changed their security. With the bases we’ve uncovered already, we’d still need just one more zapfish to break into the boss kettle.”

“And once we do that,” Said Sheldon, “I’ll be able to dig around and figure out their new security protocols.”

“So we’re pretty much stuck.”

“Well, not exactly,” Sheldon rubbed his hands together, “I can still break into their new security! It’ll just take a… long time. Plus, they might notice me trying to get in and change everything again. Then we’d be back to square one.”

“Aye, so if we can’t solve this then we’ll need to borrow a zapfish from Inkopolis.”

Marie crossed her arms, “Ok yeah, that’s a problem. The city’s definitely not gonna wanna give up any zapfish even for like, an hour.”

They all stood in silence for a moment.

Marie glared at the kettle in front of her like she could manifest another zapfish just by staring. “So what now?”

Grandpa sighed, “Fer now, we’ll finish off the bases we have. While we do that, Sheldon’ll keep looking. Hopefully he’ll find somethin’ soon. If he doesn’t, then we’ll need to get ready to ask the city for a zapfish. Right now, you an’ Agent 3 could run a quick mission while me n’ Sheldon see if we can come up with any more ideas.”

* * *

Etta wasn’t super happy to wake up, but she got moving pretty quickly after the initial grumpiness wore out. Having some food definitely helped. She got changed into what appeared to be one of Callie’s old hero suits, based on the scuff marks on the headset. Marie explained the situation to her, and she seemed to mostly understand. 

After Etta got ready, Marie picked up grandpa’s mission equipment and they headed out to the next kettle. 

Etta kneeled at the edge of the kettle and Marie set up the equipment. “Ok, everything’s ready. This next kettle looks like it got a lots of spreaders. Those things’ll ink the ground the cover continuously, so don’t bother trying to cover everything around ‘em. Just ink and run.”

Etta gripped her hero shot and stood up straight, “Yes. I am ready.”

“Great, so hop on in an-”

A shout interrupted her, “Ah! Hold on just a second you two!”

Marie jumped slightly and turned toward the voice, “Sheldon?”

“Yes!” Sheldon sprinted toward them and stopped to breath for a moment. “I almost forgot something important!”

Etta tilted her head, “What is it?”

“I was working on some of the hero weapons and I finally made a breakthrough with the design!” Standing proudly, Sheldon announced news, “I have created an ink tank that can support two sub weapons! Plus, I’ve also made all around improvements to all the hero weapons.”

The announcement brought a big grin from Etta, “Ah! That sounds very good!”

And a grin from Marie as well, “That _does_ sound pretty awesome. But… I also know you, Sheldon. What’s it cost?”

“Heh! You caught me!” Sheldon laughed, “Since you’re working to save Inkopolis, you guys get a deal. I talked with Cap’n, and I’ll upgrade and provide the sardinium if you” he turned to Marie, “help promote the weapons I’ve been working on.”

Just for show, Marie put her hand on her chin in thought, “Hmm. I _suppose_ that since we _already_ do that, I can accept this deal. Is that all though?”

“Well… to be fair, I gotta ask something from Etta.”

“Me?” Etta pointed at herself and frowned, “I do not have many things.”

Sheldon gave her a smile, “It’s nothing much. I just need some help around the shop every once in a while. Even once a week would be good. Sunday, maybe. It’s just moving boxes and helping get stuff that I can’t reach. Maybe helping test out a weapon or two if I need it. Sound good?”

“Yes, that is good.” Nodding her head, Etta held out her hand for Sheldon to shake. Marie shook his hand too and, having sealed the deal, Sheldon waved goodbye and sprinted away, presumably back over to where grandpa was.

Ok, back to work. Marie adjusted grandpa’s headset over her ears and looked over the mission screen again. “Ok Agent 3. You ready?”

“Yes, I am ready!”

“Then let’s go.”

Etta transformed and jumped into the kettle. Marie watched her disappear and reappear on the map. As soon as Etta landed, she tested the communicator. “Agent 3? You can hear me, right?”

Etta voice crackled through the grandpa’s headset, “Yes. I am here”

“Great. So just head forward past those spreaders. There’s an octarian just in front of the launch pad so take it out quick.”

Etta ran past the spreaders and took out the octarian before it could blink. She super jumped to the next platforms, took out some octocopters, and swam up a wall, before getting stuck at a bigger wall with a spreader. She kept trying to ink it and swim up, but she was too slow and kept on getting pushed off by the spreader. It was funny to watch her furiously swear at the machine, especially since Marie knew what some of those words meant.

“ _Pffheh_ , you need a little help there Agent? I though gramps was training you to swim faster?”

“ _Ragh!_ ” Etta fell down again and swore some more. “I can swim better now. But I am not good with the walls!”

“ _Heheh_ , do you wanna just ink the top of the spreader and climb up that?”

“...”

“... Did you not think of that?”

“... no. I did think about it.”

“Liar.”

Etta didn’t say anything to that. She swam to the top of the wall and used the launchpad, blasting through more octocopters. 

“Hey, Agent 3?” 

“Hmm?” Etta stopped and stood on one of the spreaders that were cycling around one of the platforms.

“Have you decided your splatfest team yet?”

“Oh. Yes I have.”

“Well? What side are you gon-hey look at that! To your right”

“Huh?” Etta turned to look underneath the platform she’d just been standing on. Sitting hidden in a space under the surface, was an orange toolbox. 

“It’s a secret! Go see wha-oh you’re already going.” Etta hopped over to the toolbox and opened it up, shifting through the insides. There wasn’t too much. It looked like it was mostly just regular toolbox stuff. Screwdrivers, hammer and nails, and wrenches of varying size. Buried under all the uninteresting junk was what looked like some kind of rolled up octarian newspaper and a magazine.

“Ooo! I want this! I know this word!” She reached into the mess and pulled out the magazine. Marie couldn’t see what the newspaper said but she caught a glimpse of the magazine. It had the words ‘ _ARCHEOLOGY TODAY_ ’ written in big inkling letters at the top, with some artwork of the extinct goat standing in a field. Pretty generic stuff, really. 

“Okay, that’s weird that there’s an inkling magazine down here. How’re you planning to get that stuff back up without ruining it?”

“I know what to do.” Etta shifted around and brought the paper out of sight from the headset camera. After a few seconds, she lifted her arms and announced, “There! Safe!”

“Uh, where did you put them?”

“In my shirt!” Marie then saw her reach for the newspaper, presumably to do the same thing.

“... You’re a very unique person, Agent 3. Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time. Go get the zapfish before the octarians can get backup!”

* * *

The rest of the mission went smoothly and Etta returned quickly. As she popped out of the kettle, Marie watched the monitor to make sure the octarians were fleeing. 

Etta shook all the remaining ink off herself and unzipped the vest of her hero jacket to dump out the stuff she’d brought back. By the time that Marie finished making sure the base was clear, Etta was already sitting on the ground, flipping through the magazine.

Marie flipped the equipment off and tapped her shoulder, “Anything interesting in there?”

“Hmm…” Etta flipped through several more pages, “...I do not know. I am looking at pictures.”

“Etta, you’re hilarious.” Marie chuckled, sitting down beside Etta, “But let me see what it says!”

Etta flipped back to the cover and Marie scanned through the words on the front. ‘Ancient Ash-Covered Village Unearthed’, ‘The Oldest Ink Weapon Ever Found?’, ‘The New Theory of Human Extinction’, and ‘Super Sea Snails: Rituals and Worship’ were some of the articles featured.

Marie read them out loud to Etta, “Any of those sound interesting? I gotta admit, archeology isn’t usually my thing. I’m better at chemistry.”

“Oh! Read the human one please!” Etta flipped toward the right page, though it took her a while to find the right page number.

“Woah, ok that’s a pretty long article” Marie reached over and took the magazine from Etta to get a better look. “Ok, let’s see…

“ _The New Theory of Human Extinction: How our Predecessors Really Died_

_"In the past year there has been a new and controversial theory as to how humans went extinct, thanks in part to a discovery made by Burgess Shale, PhD. It was four years ago that the lamprey and her team managed to unearth a previously undisturbed underground bunker of some sort. ‘While underground bunkers aren’t exactly uncommon, especially out west, this one was remarkably different from the others we have discovered’ Shale said in an interview. She showed us some of the exquisitely preserved artifacts, which included cans of food (which may still be edible!), several types of unidentified seeds, and what appeared to be farming tools._

_“‘The bunker is one of the largest in terms of living space, several times larger than the largest that’s been found, and it was located at a high, flat, elevation, with soil ideal for farming. It is likely that high as it is, it would be relatively unaffected by rising oceans.’ Edia Caran, a coelacanth geologist and colleague of Shale, who helped in the recovery said. This, in combination with the stocks of food and farming supplies imply that this bunker wasn’t a short term, low capacity place, and was intended for long term survival._ ”

Marie let out a deep sigh and leaned her head back, “Ugh, okay this is cool and all but I’m getting bored” She turned to Etta, who was still staring at the pages, “Did you understand all of that?”

Etta leaned back on her palms and puffed out her cheeks like a blowfish. Letting the air out in a rush, she answered, “No. There was too many words. And I cannot read very good.”

Marie paused for a moment, thinking. Then she closed the magazine and handed it to Etta. When Etta looked at her curiously, she said, “Why don’t you take it? You actually seem a little interested in this stuff. And when you get good enough to understand it, you can read the whole thing to _me_ and know how far you’ve come.”

Slowly, Etta reached out and took the magazine. She turned it over in her hands several times and looked back to Marie with a small smile. Putting the magazine in her lap, she held out her hand for Marie to shake, “Okay!”

Marie smirked and stood up, reaching down to grab Etta’s hand and pull her up. “It’s a deal then. Now come on, let’s go get Sheldon and gramps.”

* * *

Deep underground, far below where the two agents laughed, a lone octoling girl walked through the dim corridors, carrying a folder of blueprints. She sighed and adjusted the goggles on her head, trying to work her mind through what exactly was wrong with her current design. 

DJ Octavio’s music directed her to her next task, like it did every day. She hoped that no one would notice that she was slightly late to her station. She didn’t spare much thought to the unusually empty corridor.

Until…

“Marina? Hey is that you? What are you _doing_ out here!”

Marina snapped her head up so quickly that she almost dropped her folder. After a second spent fumbling, she turned to the source of the voice. Her eyes widened in recognition, and she shouted back.

“Cammie? What’s wrong?”

Cammie dashed the rest of the way over to Marina before replying, the kelp in her black tentacles trailing behind her. Once she got to Marina, she grabbed Marina’s arm and started pulling her away, “Come on, we’re not supposed to be out right now. Your barracks are closer, we’ll talk there.”

“Ah! Cammie I just left there, why are we going back?”

Cammie didn’t saying anything or slow down, but she did give Marina a funny look under her goggles.

Eventually, they popped into the kettle that lead to the currently empty sleeping quarters. After Cammie finished checking the area to her satisfaction, they sat down on Marina’s bed and Cammie finally turned and spoke to Marina.

“I have bad news and I have worse news, which do you want to hear first?”

“Uh-”

“Nevermind you should hear the regular bad news first” Cammie took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before releasing. “There’s been an attack. Another zapfish was stolen. The thief struck too quickly for us to catch them, again.”

Marina gasped and covered her mouth, “Oh no! How are they acting so quickly?”

“We still don’t know, but Em, from security, he told me that they just rolled out a massive security upgrade yesterday, so that should help. But! You didn’t let me get to the worse news!”

“Oh Cammie, what could be worse than that! I’m not sure I wanna hear it!”

Sighing again, Cammie placed her hand on Marina’s shoulder, steadying her. “I ran into Rel earlier. She said that she left the toolbox you guys use in the area that was attacked.”

Marina went still, her eyes wide.

“Your lucky screwdriver is gone. I’m sorry.”

Groaning, Marina hung her head in her hands. “ _Ugh_. I know I should be upset about the attack… But my screwdriver!”

Marina could feel Cammie pat her back softly. “There, there, engineer Ida. It was about time you got rid of that thing anyway.”

“I can’t even be mad at Rel too! She probably lost her luck wrench too!”

“Yeah, yeah, you weirdos with your lucky charms.”

Marina shot her head up, almost hitting Cammie, “ _That’s_ why the hallways were empty! The attack! I didn’t notice…”

Cammie laughed and stood up, stretching her arms, “Lost in your thoughts again, you doof?” at Marina’s glare she laughed again, “Well no news on that front, at least. But I gotta go now.”

“Hm?”

Cammie started walking to the exit, “I gotta look for more stragglers like you. We’re pretty much on lockdown right now. You can’t leave the barracks until the lockdown is lifted. Now you’ll have to relax!”

“ _Cammie!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this on Christmas! A present for those who liked my story: an extra-long chapter!
> 
> Exams hit me hard but I passed everything! Though it took me a while to get back into the swing of writing.
> 
> Ahhh I can finally add Marina as a character. I've been waiting a while for her to come in. I named a few side characters random names that popped into my head.
> 
> Though, the characters in the article do have meaning to their names. The Burgess Shale is a famous rock deposit which contains some of the earliest soft-part fossils we have! I thought it would be funny to name an archeologist that. And I made her a lamprey because they're an ancient type of fish. Edia Caran is literally just named for the ediacaran period, a time which saw ancient life different from pretty much anything we have today, and I made her a coelacanth for the same reason as above.
> 
> This is the longest chapter I've ever written! I got through lots of things and I hope it doesn't feel rushed!
> 
> Thanks for waiting so long!


	19. Chapter 19

“Ok guys,” Grella looked at the three inklings in front of her. Haine was unsuccessfully trying to tie his blue tentacles back to keep them out of his eyes. Etta was looking around, watching all the people passing by. Quintin was practically vibrating with excitement. “on the count of three we’ll all say what team we’re gonna choose.”

They were gathered near a less busy street corner, away from the crowded splatfest terminal. It was a little chilly for mid September, so they were all wearing warmer clothes. Haine had donned a red plaid hoodie in place of his regular plaid lumberjack shirt. Quintin was wearing his old camo hoodie and Etta was wearing the Forge parka that she’d bought the other day. Grella herself had on her green zip hoodie to keep herself toasty.

Haine gave up on trying to tie his hair back and moved on to adjusting the sleeves of his jacket, “There’s no take backs too. No changing your answer after you say it.”

“I’ll count this time” Quintin exclaimed. He raised his hand and held up three fingers. 

“Three! Two! One!”

Everyone incomprehensibly shouted their team choice. They all paused and stared at each other for a few seconds before Haine laughed. 

“There’s gotta be a better way to do this guys. This happens every time.”

Grella slapped his back and grinned at the glare he sent her, “Don’t be a party pooper Haine! We’ll just each say our teams one at a time like usual. Etta can even go first cause she’s new!”

Etta pointed at herself, “Me?” She shook her head so hard that she near hit self in the face with her tentacles, hugging her arms to her chest, “No no no! I am very nervous!” Pointing at Quintin, she demanded “Quintin goes first!”

Quintin shot his hands into the air and cheered “Yeah! I get to go first! No take backs!”

Grella looked at Haine for a moment. Haine shrugged and Grella turned back to Quintin. “Sure. Knock yourself out.”

“Awesome!” Quintin clapped his hands and rubbed them together like some kind of weird supervillain, the light glinting off his glasses only adding to the effect. “Ok, the team I’m gonna be on, the team that’s gonna win, the coolest team, the only right choice really…”

Haine tapped his foot and crossed his arms. “Are you gonna say it already? Or am I gonna be the first one to choose?”

“Just wait!” Quintin snapped back, “Ok, I choose… Team Science!”

_Uh oh._

At his words Etta cheered and jumped in the air, “Yes! We have the same team!”

Grella watched Quintin and Etta celebrate for a few seconds, before slowly turning to Haine. Haine looked back with a grimace. He looked kinda constipated, actually.

Quintin, having finished celebrating, looked at the two of them, “Hey guys what’s wrong? You look kinda constipa- _oh no._ ”

“Huh?” Etta looked at them curiously, “What?”

Quintin pointed at them and yelled, voice full of accusation, “ _You guys picked the wrong team!_ ”

“ _What?_ Quintin, I work at an _art_ museum! What did you expect?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. _But still!_ ”

Haine jumped between them before their bickering could devolve into a full blown slap fight. “Guys! Save it for the splatfest. But first… _Grella is right and art is cooler!_ ”

Quintin groaned and put his hands on his face, “Haine! Not you too!”

Etta, standing to the side of the commotion, looked confused, “Wait? What is happening? You are talking too fast.”

Quintin gave Etta a sad look, placing his hand on her shoulder, “It’s bad. Haine and Grella chose the wrong team.” Eyes narrowed, he looked back at the two of them “They chose Team Art…”

Etta gasped and looked at Grella and Haine, heartbroken, “ _Oh no…_ ”

“Alright, alright guys,” Grella rolled her eyes, “At least no one’s on a team alone this time. We’ll each be able to pair together. And if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to fight it out in a match. Ok?”

At the three nods she got in response, she continued, “Great! Now, I was thinking that instead of playing some turf like usual, we could watch a few ranked matches. I heard one of the S4 guys was gonna be playing today.”

Quintin clasped his hands together, starry-eyed, the griefs of a few seconds ago forgotten entirely, “ _Seriously?_ Which one? Oh man, this is so cool!”

“It’s uhh… hold on I forgot. Lemme look it up quick.” Grella quickly pulled out her phone and searched for the Splatbook post that had the information.

“Ha ha you forgot.”

Grella leaned over and flicked Haine’s arm. “Shut up Haine I already found it. It’s Aloha.”

Quintin groaned, “Aww… I wanted Skull. I wanna to see those charger skills in action!”

Etta butt into Quintin’s complaining with a frown, “Um. Who is ‘Esfore’ and ‘Skull’?”

Grella patted Etta’s back lightly and started to walk towards the splatfest terminal. Motioning for everyone to follow her she said, “Oh yeah, I guess since you didn’t know what a splatfest is you wouldn’t know who the S4 are. They’re these four guys who are really good at turf war, and in ranked battles they’re all rank S+.”

Etta clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Oh! ‘S 4’, not ‘Esfore’! And ‘Skull’ is a S4? S+ is good, yes?”

When she saw that everyone had started walking, Grella replied, “Exactly that. I’ll explain more, but for now let’s go get our t-shirts before the line gets too long!”

* * *

Saturday came and went, and Sheldon ran his shop as usual. There was a slight uptick in visitors due to the splatfest, with inklings wanting to change up their weapons, get a tune up, or try out something new for the splatfest.

It was almost noon by the time Etta came in, having completed the last of the kettle missions. When Sheldon asked how it went, her only reply had been ‘sponge’. She did not elaborate.

He sent her to work in the back, putting away the shipment of roller parts that’d been sitting unorganized for a day or two. It was a simple task that didn’t need much weapon knowledge, but the parts were quite heavy for someone of Sheldon’s stature. Sheldon left her to that task as he handled the small rush of customers that came in around lunch to change or drop off weapons while they ate. 

It was busy enough that he wasn’t able to check on her for half an hour or so. When it finally slowed down for a little bit, he took his chance to duck into the back and see how she was handling her work. 

“Sorry I wasn’t able to help answer too many questions on account of how busy it is right now.” Sheldon looked around the room, “But it looks like you’ve done pretty alright for your first day.”

The shelves had been restocked somewhat neatly, a little messier that Sheldon usually liked (the roller handles had been just piled into the bin instead of grouped into the right types _within_ the bin, but he supposed that roller handles all looked the same to an untrained eye), but it didn’t look like anything was too out of place. The boxes were almost empty except for a few custom parts that couldn’t be sorted with the rest anyway. Etta herself was sitting crossed legged on the floor, doing something on her phone, having not been told to do anything after finishing up. She looked up from the device at his voice.

Etta stood up, put her phone away, and stretched her arms. “It is good?”

Sheldon walked a little further into the back, keeping an ear out for the sound of a customer entering the shop. “Yep! Looks good.”

Etta beamed, “Good!”

Nodding back at her, Sheldon spoke, “Now I don’t have too much else for you to do right now, but there’s 30 minutes until I close for lunch and repairs. I’d like for you to watch some of the work so you can learn a little about the weapons. I’ll also be finishing up Marie’s ink tank upgrade, so I can teach you how to use that while you’re here.”

“So I wait here?”

“Yep! And once all that’s done with, you’re free to go!”

* * *

**Henrietta3 messaged “guys we need a team name now” Sunday 1:47 pm:**

**Henrietta3:** i am finished

 **HeroBrined:** WOO

**HeroBrined:** now we can begin our teamwork training to bring these ART FIENDS down

**Grellabrella:** quintin don’t text right before a match

**Grellabrella:** we’ll meet you by the corn dog truck after our match but we gotta go rn

**1:49 pm: Grellabrella is now offline!**

**1:49 pm: HeroBrined is now offline!**

* * *

“So there’s a splatfest on Saturday, huh?”

DJ Octavio was an intimidating figure, sitting at the head of the meeting table, Cammie thought.

She looked around at all the important octarians at the table, trying not to make it too obvious that she was staring. Cammie could only identify a few of the dozen or so octarians sitting at the table.

Cammie had been chosen as one of the two guards to accompany her commanding officer to this meeting. She felt a little restless, being required to stand still at attention by the back of the room. Even though she was pretty much as far away from the DJ as she could be while still being in the room, being this close to the octarian leader was scary. 

“Yes sir, according to the reports, it will start at noon on Saturday, go through the night, and officially end at noon the next day.” Geheim, the octocommander in charge of the spies responded.

DJ Octavio crossed his tentacles, showing his x-shaped scar, and closed his eyes, “So the inklings are going to do something as wasteful as a splatfest, even though they’re still missing so many zapfish.”

Geheim nodded, “Yes. Though there are rumors that they won’t be able to have as many stages open as usual.”

“Hm?”, The DJ opened his eyes suddenly at the octocommander’s words and looked toward him, “Say that again.”

“Erm…”, Cammie saw the octocommander looked slightly surprised. “I said that there are rumors that they won’t have as many stages open…?”

The DJ pounded his scarred tentacle on the table and exclaimed “ _THAT’S IT!_ ” loud enough that everyone in the room jumped slightly, Cammie included. There was a moment of silence, everyone waiting with baited breath to see what the DJ was going to say next.

DJ Octavio turned to look at Varech, Cammie’s octoling commander, who sat up slightly straighter at the attention. “Varech, I want you to pull together an octoling team and get ready to infiltrate Inkopolis Saturday night.”

Startled, Varech tried to respond, “Sir-!”

The DJ cut her off, looking at all the faces around the table, “This is our chance to strike back at the inklings.” He looked at Geheim, “I want you to make a list of every location that will be unavailable for the splatfest and bring it to me as soon as you can.”

Cammie held her breath. The room was silent, and DJ Octavio continued speaking, “Inkopolis doesn’t have enough power to run a splatfest and keep its guard up at the same time. The splatfest will undoubtedly distract all the inklings enough that we won’t have to worry about interference, even from that one _pest_ who keeps getting in our way. In the dark, Varech’s octoling team will be able to slip inside unnoticed, and gather information on the security and zapfish locations.”

“Varech”, She, impossibly, seemed to sit up even straighter, “take a few zapfish with your team so you can use the new data collectors from the tech team.”

DJ Octavio stood up from his seat, his imposing height seemed to shadow everything in the room.

“Everyone, get to work. We have less than a week to prepare for our strike. Dismissed!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Etta: *chooses Team Science for her first splatfest*
> 
> Me: this is so sad alexa play sucker punch
> 
> Hnnnnnnng this took so long.... I did nothing but eat over the holidays. And once the semester started all I did was study and play Hyrule Warriors. I'm hoping Sector 2 will only take two or three more chapters. 
> 
> This chapter was pretty tough to write, but I hope people like the team interactions. I also hope people like the octarian meeting. And seeing Cammie again. And that I didn't butcher Octavio's character. Varech is French for Kelp, and Geheim is Dutch for secret. I'm good at names.
> 
> Thanks again to those who left comments and kudos! And hopefully the next chapter won't take more than a month lol.


	20. Chapter 20

Callie stared up at the darkening sky. She looked around to make sure no one was nearby to recognize her, pulled up her hood, and started the walk back to her apartment. Marie would start on her way back a few minutes after Callie left, just to make sure they wouldn’t be recognized together and mobbed. 

The splatfest was tomorrow and they needed all the sleep they could get. 

Even after the _devastating_ revelation that Etta had chosen the wrong team for her first splatfest, Callie was determined to make sure that Etta’s first splatfest was still amazing. Marie felt the same way.

The cousins had made sure to work extra hard on their set list. They practiced and fine-tuned every bit that they could. Apparently they’d been too obvious with their excitement, and Ichiya, the lead guitarist and vocalist of the Squid Squad itself (who had unanimously joined Team Art), had confronted them, demanding to know why they were acting so weird.

On discovering that the Squid Sisters had a friend who was participating in her first splatfest, he’d excitedly shared the news with the rest of his band. And Hightide Era. And the Chirpy Chips. And probably a few others. Throughout the days before the event, everyone had been a little more excited than usual, wanting to put on a good performance for the Squid Sisters’ unnamed friend. 

Callie thought it was a little embarrassing that all the performers were so eager to impress someone they didn’t even know, just because the cousins said they were a friend. It did motivate everyone to put on a good splatfest, and it helped to break up some of the routine, so she wasn’t really complaining too hard.

Lost in thought as she was, it felt like Callie arrived at the apartment in no time at all. She took off her shoes and went to flop down on the couch, taking out her phone to text Etta while she waited for Marie to arrive.

**Agent 1 messaged Henrietta3 Friday 6:27 pm:**

**Agent 1:** hey 3

 **Agent 1:** you EXCITED for tomorrow 

**Agent 1:** (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

 **Henrietta3:** yes i am very excited

 **Agent 1:** GOOD

 **Agent 1:** make sure you see the splatfest opener!

 **Agent 1:** squid squad is doing and i remember you mentioned that one of your friends is a fan

 **Agent 1:** it can be hard to get a good spot but the thrift store on the right side of the street has a balcony that has a PERFECT view of the stage

 **Agent 1:** tell mrs limace that callie sent you and shell let you in

 **Agent 1:** she might make you buy something but shes got great stuff so youll probably be able to find at least a few things you like

 **Henrietta3:** ok

 **Agent 1:** 2 should be back soon

 **Agent 1:** text us if you have any more questions or if you want any more splatfest advice!

 **Agent 1:** we probably wont be able to meet up during the splatfest

 **Agent 1:** but 2 and i are gonna be free after it so maybe we can finally meet in person then!!!

 **Henrietta3:** yes

 **Henrietta3:** thank you

 **Agent 1:** youre gonna have so much fun!!!

* * *

“Hmm… so you’re the one that Callie sent? Etta, right?”

Quintin and his friends (all dressed up in their splatfest tees) looked down at Ms. Limace, the owner of Fins and Frills, from the entrance to the store. She was a blue sea slug, a little over a foot tall, with paired fan-shaped appendages coloured in different shades of blue running down her sides. Though the fans were currently folded, the colours were still a spectacular sight. Ms. Limace also wore a necklace with pearls and a few stones that reflected the light in just the right way to draw attention to her without being gaudy. 

“... friends in high places, don’t you?” Quintin snapped back to attention when he realized Ms. Limace was still talking. She had a slight sluggish accent.

Etta, who was at the front of their little group looked like she had no idea what to say to that.

“Um…?”

“And not much for words, just like Callie said,” Ms. Limace began to move gracefully farther into the store. She motioned for them to follow her.

“Yes, yes, come in,” She lead them all over to a door at the back, then around a few clothing racks full of colourful pants to some stairs leading upwards. “I’ve been told this is your first splatfest, so I won’t make you buy anythin’ this time, but you do have to at least look through my stock.”

Quintin looked over at Etta and saw her straighten up. “Uh… thank you!” She said, and bowed slightly. 

“Hm. Polite too.” Ms. Limace looked over the four of them one last time before turning and starting to move back to the front of the store. “You can settle yourselves upstairs, but I want to see all of you down here before the splatfest begins, alright?”

When she closed the door behind her, Quintin let out the breath he didn’t realized he was holding, “Ahh that was kind of scary…”

Etta slumped out of her rigid stance, “Yes…”

Haine piped up from Quintin’s left and pumped his fist in the air, “Yeah but this is so cool! We’re gonna have a great view!”

Grella slapped Etta on the back and grinned, “Great job on finding this place! Now let’s go look upstairs!”

Haine ended up taking the lead on the journey upstairs, braving the unknown for the rest of them. They climbed two flights of stairs to get to their destination, and Etta was the one who had the honour of opening the glass door.

The balcony wasn’t really _huge_ , but there was more than enough room for all of them fit comfortably. There was enough space that they could sit and still be able to see through the vertical railings. A sea slug sized chair sat in the middle of the area, and there were a few potted plants on the side facing away from Inkopolis Tower, where the stage was visible.

The stage itself was set up at the back of Inkopolis tower, so that inklings wanting to enter the tower for battles wouldn’t be held up by the crowds watching the performances. Fins and Frills itself was the fifth store in the strip of buildings on the right side of the wide street, and even though they were quite a bit to the right of the stage, they were close enough to clearly see the jellyfish workers who were still setting up equipment.

Quintin was so distracted observing the space that he jumped when Grella started speaking.

“Alright! So, this place is awesome!” Grella stood up straight in the balcony doorway and put her hands on her hips, “And it’s awesome that Etta managed to get us in here. But! We have an hour before things kick off, and we have things to do before then.”

“First!” She thrust her arms forward and held up one finger, “We need to get glowsticks for when it gets dark. Second! Get some take-out that we can eat while we watch the opening. Third! Check out what Ms. Limace has in her shop. Fourth! Above all else, make sure that we…”

“ _Have fun!_ ” Quintin shouted, making Etta jump, and Haine laugh.

It didn’t take long to get the required glowsticks, though there was a period of deliberation on just what food to get. In the end, they all deferred to Haine’s suggestion, as usual. Anchovy and kelp pizza, with some kind of sugary mini donuts as snacks.

Quintin lost the rock-paper-scissors and had to carry all the stuff upstairs while his friends looked at the cool stuff in the shop. When he got downstairs (after snacking on a donut or two), Haine was wearing a pilot hat that made him look _truly_ dorky and Grella was wearing some shades and a red knit scarf, busy trying to tie a black bandana around Etta’s neck.

“Wait Quintin!” Haine exclaimed when he noticed Quintin coming closer, “Etta, show him what we found!”

Grella stepped away from the now tied bandana, and Etta turned to him and pulled the bandana halfway up her face, holding her arms out in a ‘ _ta-da!_ ’ motion. 

Quintin nearly gasped in shock, “Wha-that’s…!”

Grella grinned, “Doesn’t it look just like the one Skull has! It’s got the right amount of teeth and everything!”

As Quintin attempted not to cry, Ms. Limace called out to them from the register, “Am I right in assumin’ that you’re gonna be buyin’ that bandana?”

Quintin was still busy trying to keep himself together, so Grella answered for him, “Um, yes! And I’m gonna get this scarf too.”

Grella went over to pay for her scarf, and Etta began to take off the bandana but Quintin stopped her.

“Wait, don’t take that off yet,” at her confused look, he continued, “Keep it on for the splatfest. It makes you look really scary and you might be able to distract people with it. Since I use a charger, people won’t see it on me as much.”

After things were paid for, they only had a few minutes to get comfortable upstairs before the music started. They brought all their things upstairs and started to dig into their food, watching as the streets filled with people eager to see the show.

When the clock hit twelve they all cheered as Squid Squad walked on stage, Haine shouting especially loudly.

* * *

“Listen up! The sun is setting, and according to the intelligence reports, there is going to be a large performance in half an hour.”

Cammie, standing in a line next to the other squad leaders, the rest of the team members standing behind them, listened and tried not to fidget as Varech addressed the team. 

“I will go over our instructions one last time. We will split into groups. Della, your squad will cover Walleye Warehouse. Find information on shipment schedules and cargo. Saxa’s squad will search along the west subway lines. Magali will search the north lines. Both lines have been partially closed to preserve power. Cammie,” Cammie squared her shoulders, “Your squad will be with me. We will infiltrate the Kelp Dome. The greenhouse is incredibly energy intensive, and according to reports, should have an unguarded zapfish.”

“Yes captain.”

Everyone had already donned their disguises. Plain hoodies in various shades of gray, communicators hidden by the hoods, octogoggles exchanged for the less conspicuous octoshades, and inktanks and weapons kept hidden by backpacks. Any elite octolings also forwent their hair kelp, though their tentacles were still kept black. Each of the squad leaders (or Varech, in their case) also carried a precious zapfish, carefully stored inside the case containing the data collectors, with a opening on top for the small zapfish to breath through. It wasn’t the safest method of zapfish transport possible, but the rubber lining would prevent any serious shock injuries.

“Avoid sticking out. On your way to your location, you may be approached by inklings. If they ask any questions, keep your hood up and just say that you’re there working. I chose many of you for this squad because of your knowledge of the inkling language, so I trust that you can avoid too many questions.”

* * *

Their journey to the Kelp Dome went smoothly. They managed to avoid being seen, except for a tall urchin who mumbled something about ‘more inklings with accents’, a weird look from a horseshoe crab who scuttled away as soon as he saw them, and a few noisy inkling kids who barely looked their way before giggling and running off.

It did take a while to get to their destination though, so Cammie had a bit of time to talk with her squadmates once they left the populated areas.

Their squad consisted of five octolings: Varech, 29 years old, and an expert at infiltration, Cammie herself, 19, and an elite octoling, and the sisters Sorina and Uttara, both 18, with a wide array of specializations between them. Finally, there was the youngest in their squad, and one of the newer recruits under Varech: Mira, 15, adept at language and improvisation. Mira was the one who handled most of the speaking because of her excellent accent.

Sorina walked slightly ahead, chatting quietly with Varech. Mira walked at the back, trying a failing to look like she wasn’t staring at Varech. Cammie nudged Uttara and made a nodded her head towards Mira. Uttara looked at Cammie, then at Mira. She paused, shrugged, and nodded back at Cammie and the both slowed down their walk until they were on either side of Mira.

Cammie elbow bumped the now nervous Mira and said, “Hey. You look on edge. What’s on your mind?”

At Mira’s wide-eyed silence (presumably, under the octoshades), Uttara spoke up, “You don’t have to be so nervous. I know Varech and Cammie here can seem suuuper scary during training, but believe it or not, outside of that they’re both pretty nice.” She leaned in closer, then whispered, “Sorina’s the one you gotta look out for. Trust me, I’ve known her my whole life.”

Cammie reached across Mira to give Uttara’s shoulder a light punch, “Oi, just cause she’s better at poker than you, doesn’t mean she’s a monster.”

Uttara whined, “Ugh, but her poker face is scary. We’re basically identical! She shouldn’t be able to do things with her face that I can’t!”

Turning back to Mira, Cammie continued, “Anyway, you look nervous. This is your first big mission, right?”

Mira, who had mostly remained unreactive, answered quietly. “Yes.”

“So which parts are you nervous about?” Uttara asked, “You’re gonna have a terrible time here if you’re this tense the entire mission. Talking will help.”

“Um…”, Mira trailed off, silent for a moment, before speaking, “I’m nervous about being around so many elites, even it’s just you and commander Varech right now. But I’m more nervous that we’ll somehow encounter the inkling.”

Cammie was slightly surprised, “The inkling? That’s-”

“-Really unlikely, I know,” Mira interrupted, grimacing, “But I’m still scared cause it somehow shows up _everywhere_.”

Cammie placed a hand on Mira’s shoulder and gave her a gentle smile, “Hey. We’re attacking at the best time possible. All the inklings are at the splatfest. And even _if_ , and it’s a very big _if_ , the inkling shows up, do you really think it’ll stand a chance against five octolings, two of which are elite?”

“I-”

“Plus, the rest of us will be at the front lines. We’ll splat that inkling into last week before it even gets close to you, alright?”

“That’s… yeah, ok.” Mira took a deep breath, then let it out, “Yeah, that does make me feel better. Thank you, elite Cammie.”

Giving Mira a pat on the back, Cammie started walking a bit faster, “Good. Now let’s go catch up before Varech notices that we’re-”

“Will you three hurry up! We’re about there.” Varech voice came from up ahead.

“Hmm. Yeah, she noticed.”

* * *

Getting the information didn’t take too long. They picked the locks of the computer room and set up the data collector. The zapfish didn’t complain too much, content to allow Varech to attach the wires to its whiskers. Cammie set up the small satellite dish and moved it around until they got a signal.

Cammie and Sorina took over actually transferring the computer data. Uttara and Mira kept watch, while Varech spent some time communicating with the other squads.

From the sound of things, everything was going well.

Once they were finally done sending the information, Cammie and Sorina spent a minute returning everything in the room to the way it was before, while Varech put the data collector back in the case. When she finally got to the zapfish, she paused for only a few seconds, staring into its pleading eyes, before placing it gently back into the case and clicking the latches shut.

She turned to the squad, “From the data, both from here and from Gehiem, the zapfish should be located in the basement, unguarded. Still, we should be cautious. Everyone keep your eyes peeled for any intruders.”

The stairs to the basement were near the back of the building. Cammie thought the journey was a little nerve wracking thanks to all the corners and trees to hide behind, but they made it to the stairway uninterrupted. 

As Varech began to descend down the stairs, Cammie took one last look around at the trees and shrubs. She spared a bitter thought of all the excess that existed here, and turned to the stairs, the other three following behind her, when she heard a sudden thump and a shout cut short.

Cammie whipped around, taking out her octoshot, and pointed it to the intruder. She saw Sorina and Uttara do the same, and heard Varech arm herself as well.

It took her a precious second to realized what she was looking at.

On the ground, dazed and curled up on her side was Mira. 

Standing tall, armed with a strange looking weapon, the four octolings found themselves staring at the brown eyes of a very angry looking inkling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY OTL
> 
> Midterms hit me hard, and then I picked up Hyrule Warriors again. I just wanted to make sure I got this chapter out before exams started. I really don't want to leave this cliffhanger until after exams but... I don't think I'll be able to get another chapter out until after they're done. OTL
> 
> This is my longest chapter yet. It's much closer to the length that I'd like to achieve in the future. Let's hope that it won't take 2 months again!!!
> 
> On the other hand... I really hope people enjoy this chapter, cause I worked hard on it! The octoling names are all courtesy of the random name generator, and Limace is slug in french. Ms. Limace is a blue sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus). These fascinating creature will take the cnidocytes (stinging cells) of the jellyfish that they eat, and use them to arm themselves. If you ever find one, do not touch it! No matter how pretty it looks!
> 
> Thanks again to those who have left kudos and comments! This is once again not beta read, so if you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out!


End file.
